Obama's big stick robs Republican trump card

WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama's use of big stick power to eliminate Osama bin Laden may deprive Republicans of one of their most trusty political tactics: branding Democrats as national security weaklings.

The risky raid deep into Pakistan that killed the al-Qaida chief nearly 10 years after the Sept 11 attacks came at a time when Obama was on the backfoot on foreign policy and as he fired up his 2012 bid for a second term.

There was no suggestion the operation was a fiendish plot to improve his poll numbers, but politics are shaped by events. Public perceptions of a leader's mettle on the world stage are an important driver of presidential elections.