People have been pointing out that Bush I started and WON the Gulf War pretty quickly and had approval ratings in the 90's before going on to lose the election in '92.
Although there it is important not to let one's guard down and think that '12 is completely in the bag but I don't think that these two situations are similar.
Number 1: Getting Saddam Hussein was NOT a 10 year effort sparked by an act of war as spectacular as 9/11! In fact, Saddam had been a US ally for much of the 80's up to that point, including the infamous handshake Donald Rumsfeld had with Saddam Hussein when they were at war with Iran. Saddam turned on us and quite frankly, he was still pretty much a nobody to much of the US for most of the decade preceding the Gulf War. Bin Laden, however, was very much a commanding influence on US foreign policy for much of the last decade and the media (and previous administration) had spent much of the last 10 years make sure everyone knew that!
Number 2: People did NOT assemble at the White House waving American flags when it was announced that the US won the Gulf War! Just watching the footage of the people assembling on by the White House makes me jealous that I no longer live in the Washington, DC metro area. I spent the first 18 years of my life in the northern Virginia area and I cannot think of a time when people spontaneously assembled in front of the White House with American flags waving. On a scale of 1-10, the gulf war victory doesn't even register.
Number 3: This did NOT happen on the 8th anniversary of an infamous "pre-mature" celebration known as "Mission Accomplished"
The effects of this MOMENT are not going to be completely known for quite some time but I would like to note (as others have already noted) that this is the 8th anniversary of Bush's infamous "Mission Accomplished" speech that became a symbol of American arrogance and Bush's ultimate failure to achieve the ONE achievable goal relating to the "Global War on Terror." Many people thought that Bush would be the one to make this speech and somehow validate the Bush Doctrine when, in a form of Poetic Justice, it would be Obama that would give that announcement, when he disputed that same doctrine.
Number 4: This was the LARGEST fucking Manhunt since Hitler and we got the satisfaction of know that it was US who got him! I don't need to say anything else about that.
Ultimately, we don't know exactly how this will play out in the next few days to a week but goddamn, this is fucking HUGE in a way that the Gulf War just doesn't even register.