Whether or not Obama wins reelection in 2012, the death of Osama bin Laden is a big success story of his presidency, and that puts conservatives in a tight spot. So far, conservatives like Jennifer Rubin at the Washington Post have been working hard to give Bush some of the credit; and as Patrick Caldwell pointed out, they are using the incident to tout the effectiveness of torture as well. Then there's a third tack: Deny bin Laden is dead. Here's Fox News promoting bin Laden-death denialism (via Media Matters):
Basically, the right's success at engendering fear of government means they can literally run news items suggesting the President and the entire military establishment, as well as the national and foreign press, have pulled a giant hoax on the American people. And it's not just about bin Laden. Government – particularly when Democrats are in power – is supposed to be scary and untrustworthy. If you believe Democrats wants to haul grandma in front of a death panel, then it's not really a stretch to believe they will fake the death of bin Laden for their own political gain as well. Convincing people not to trust the government allows Fox News and the right in general to work within an entirely separate realm of facts and deny absolutely anything they find inconvenient.