Convention counter: How many times can the Democrats mention Osama bin Laden?
During their convention in Tampa, the Republicans mentioned Osama bin Laden a grand total of one time. "Every American was relieved the day President Obama gave the order, and Seal Team Six took out Osama bin Laden," Mitt Romney conceded. How times have changed. Welcome to the Democratic convention in Charlotte, where the former al ...
During their convention in Tampa, the Republicans mentioned Osama bin Laden a grand total of one time. "Every American was relieved the day President Obama gave the order, and Seal Team Six took out Osama bin Laden," Mitt Romney conceded.
During their convention in Tampa, the Republicans mentioned Osama bin Laden a grand total of one time. "Every American was relieved the day President Obama gave the order, and Seal Team Six took out Osama bin Laden," Mitt Romney conceded.
How times have changed. Welcome to the Democratic convention in Charlotte, where the former al Qaeda leader is a favorite topic of conversation. We got a taste for what the rhetoric would be like on Monday, when Vice President Joe Biden responded to GOP questions about whether Americans were better off than they were four years ago.
"You want to know whether we’re better off?" Biden asked a crowd in Detroit. "I’ve got a little bumper sticker for you: Osama bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive."
As the Democratic convention continues, we’ll be keeping track of how many times the Democrats manage to work the successful raid into their speeches. The tally so far? Eight references on Tuesday, usually in the context of Obama keeping his promises to take out terrorist leaders, end the war in Iraq, and wind down the war in Afghanistan.
The most colorful mention goes to actor and former Obama administration official Kal Penn, who informed the crowd that while he’s worked on many movies, "my favorite job was having a boss who gave the order to take out bin Laden — and who’s cool with all of us getting gay-married."
And you can be sure there’s more bin Laden boasting to come — we haven’t even hit national security night yet.
Uri Friedman is deputy managing editor at Foreign Policy. Before joining FP, he reported for the Christian Science Monitor, worked on corporate strategy for Atlantic Media, helped launch the Atlantic Wire, and covered international affairs for the site. A proud native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he studied European history at the University of Pennsylvania and has lived in Barcelona, Spain and Geneva, Switzerland. Twitter: @UriLF
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