Regardless of the national debt, the price of gasoline, unemployment numbers, illegal immigration, the economy and other negative situations, President Obama will be a tough incumbent to defeat in the upcoming 2012 presidential election.

This week’s daring and successful raid on Osama bin Laden’s hideaway will certainly give the president a boost in public popularity numbers, although this groundswell of favorable thoughts about the president probably will be temporary and fade from the public’s mind before November 2012. Nevertheless, Obama promoters will work hard to keep it in the forefront in his presidential campaign.

Some Republican strategists have suggested Obama will be easier to defeat in the 2012 election than he was in 2008.

This writer believes he will be just as tough, or tougher. His handlers, and the president himself, could be likened to extremely tough, skilled and experienced street fighters, using every possible trick to nail down another four years in the White House.

His campaign leading up to his 2008 victory should offer ample proof of the challenges faced by his GOP challenger. Various senior political observers were quick to give the Obama team high marks for planning and executing an almost perfect campaign.

It’s likely, rather it’s “guaranteed,” Obama will have a record-breaking war chest to fund his campaign. Various reports indicate he raised close to $800 million in his first bid for the presidency, and he and party leaders hope to top the $1 billion mark before November 2012. This will dwarf whatever the GOP is able to raise.

Likewise, he will have the services of record numbers of volunteers who will commit substantial time and effort to campaign and bring out the voters to support the Obama candidacy.

He did this in his first campaign, and the 2012 effort will be even more sophisticated. Thousands of these volunteers did far more than just put up yard signs and knock on doors. They committed weeks to go wherever they were needed throughout the country.

The names of these volunteers were added to vast computer information banks, so they can be retrieved and returned to active duty in the upcoming months. Likewise, the names, addresses and other pertinent information of all financial contributors were stored away, and these individuals are sure to be solicited again in the coming months.

An added plus for Obama is what he has accomplished in his two-plus years as president in using federal assistance programs to ingratiate himself to millions of Americans. He and his aides will claim that if Obama is not re-elected millions of dollars in federal assistance will be reduced or eliminated. That’s a strong and powerful argument.

As several top Demo strategists noted prior to the 2008 campaign, fear is the most powerful campaign tactic. Another plus is the massive support he will be receiving from organized labor.

Potential Republican candidates surely are aware of the odds stacked against them in their efforts to defeat incumbent Obama, even if the national debt situation worsens, there are new troubles in Iraq, North Africa, Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan or other trouble spots, or if unemployment numbers should remain high or even grow to greater numbers.

This being the situation, it seems the best plan for Republicans would be to select their best and strongest candidate to take on Obama, but at the same time give the U.S. Senate and House races equal priority.

There is ample evidence of how Obama wants to change this country. He said as much in his first presidential campaign when he told supporters they were only days away from being able to bring about a fundamental change in this country. He has followed through on this pledge in many ways and if he should be re-elected, there’s no limit to what he may try to do to this country.

The only way to stunt or stop these radical changes is if the GOP can maintain and/or strengthen its majority in the U.S. House and win enough seats in the Senate races to control that legislative body.

Otherwise Obama would be free to impose his welfare, socialistic blueprint on America.

As election time draws nearer, Obama is sure to try to present himself as moving from his far Left political philosophy to a more moderate or central position, but such actions will be purely to better his re-election chances.

The best advice for those watching the Obama campaign is to not pay attention to what he says, but what he has done. For example, his pledges for transparency in government actions and ample time for lawmakers to examine proposed legislation and how this compares to what actually happened with the Obama medical care plan and other executive actions.

It’s likely to be a very mean, tough presidential campaign with Obama forces pulling out all stops. That’s why the House and Senate elections will be so critical.