The first Republican debate of the 2008 presidential campaign, held on May 3, 2007, at the Reagan Library in California, is primarily remembered for one question. Moderator Jim VandeHei of Politico -- the debate was co-sponsored by the then-startup online publication and NBC -- asked Sen. John McCain whether he believed in evolution. Then, turning to the entire panel, VandeHei asked any candidates who did not believe in evolution to raise their hands.
Three acquiesced (former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback and former Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo). The moment passed without great fanfare, but was still an embarrassment to Republicans. Brownback felt compelled, in an attempt at damage control, to pen hastily-written New York Times op-ed on the topic. The next morning, Huckabee elaborated by explaining to reporters: "If you want to believe that you and your family came from apes, that's fine. I'll accept that. I just don't happen to think that I did."
But mainly, the incident proved more troublesome for those candidates who did not raise their hands. Christian Broadcasting News (CBN) immediately pestered Mitt Romney for a clarification. "Some Evangelicals already have concerns about Romney's Mormon faith," explained CBN senior correspondent David Brody. "He needs support from Evangelicals to win. That's why this issue is an important one that needs to be cleared up. I don't think this is an issue that Romney can avoid. I believe his views need to be clear."
With the first GOP debate of the 2012 campaign cycle scheduled for May 5, it's fair to wonder if a similar inquiry will send presidential hopefuls scrambling. With Donald Trump still considering a run for the White House, his new pet issue -- President Obama's place of birth -- suddenly has a prominence not seen since the first Tea Party rumblings of 2009. And given that the current season Trump's reality television program is not set to end until late May, it's fair to assume that Trump's flirtations with a presidential candidacy will not abate before that May 5 debate.
On March 17, Trump remarked on how "strange" it was that no one knew anything about Obama's youth. "If I got the nomination, if I decide to run, you may go back and interview people from my kindergarten," Trump said. "They'll remember me. Nobody comes forward. Nobody knows who he is until later in his life. It's very strange. The whole thing is very strange."
A google search would have turned up interviews both with Obama's kindergarten teacher and a classmate. Days later, Trump made waves by purporting to release a copy of his official birth certificate to a conservative news outlet, in order to prove how easy it would be for the President to do so. The only problem? The document Trump produced was a legally irrelevant souvenir produced by a hospital, and not an official government document. Unchastened, Trump produced such a document the next day -- a task Obama accomplished four years ago.
But even if his utterances lack sense, they still create noise -- and waves. What happens if 2012 GOP hopefuls are asked to raise their hands if they have any doubts about Obama's birthplace?
Much like 2007's evolution query, there's a greater potential for backlash for candidates providing the "correct" answer. Recent polling suggests that the majority of GOP primary voters doubt Obama's natural-born status. As of now, conservatives lack a single candidate to coalesce around -- or uniformly oppose. If a candidate without established right-wing bona fides, however, were to be perceived as dismissing a movement that represents a significant cross-section of the Republican Party, how would that affect their campaign? Haley Barbour has a long enough record to potentially get away with shunning the birthers, but what about Mitt Romney or Tim Pawlenty? And if there is a candidate willing to take a lonely stand on the issue, how would that affect donations from the Party base? Michele Bachmann, already raising more money than Romney in the first quarter of 2011, has demonstrated the disproportionate role true believers can have on the financial landscape.
A Sunday New York Times article points out that Trump's flirtations with presidential campaigns have, to this point, always ended with Trump leaving the field once he managed to sell enough books or gin up enough attention. This year, however, that may be irrelevant. Trump's March madness may have already shifted the race. Ultimately, Trump's greatest impact on the Republican campaign may be what he forces others to say.
There is a simple explanation to why people question Obama's birthplace.
First -- his father is not a US citizen.
Second -- there are relatives of Obama's that claim he was born in Kenya
Third -- after 2 years -- NO ONE HAS PRODUCED A BIRTH CERTIFICATE. And for those of you playing at home...a certificate of live birth is not the same as a birth certificate.
Four -- can anyone name the doctor that performed the birth?
But why the secrecy about his birth certificate? If you apply for a drivers license for the first time in Virginia, you have to show a birth certificate or immigration papers. Surely candidates for president should ahve to show that much - to show they are constituionally elligible to be elected.
It shoud only be a formality.
Why are people even havign questions about his place of birth and his religion?
Examples:
I am not a witch.
I am not a cheat, I'm a patriot.
I am not a crook
www.newyorkgritty.net
If a newspaper birth announcement is proof, why not show the birth certificate and end all this nonsense once and for all?
All presidential candidates are subject to this matter...why did it take so long for any verification?
It could just as easily be said he was allowed entrance based on his race alone...that is racist.
Merely questioning why the rules don't apply to him is not racist. It is for this reason alone that I don't give the matter much thought. I take him as he is. Gladly.
Awful news out of Washington: The first scheduled debate of the 2012 presidential campaign has been pushed back to September. Politico and NBC were joining forces to host the campaign kickoff May 2 at the Ronald Reagan library, with Brian Williams and Politico editor John Harris moderating. The debate was announced last November, with the date officially set in January. But it's nearly April, and our only official candidate is... Fred Karger. (My fave!) Oh, and maybe Jimmy McMillan.
Tim Pawlenty has an exploratory committee, giving the Republican party a grand total of one serious presidential candidate. Newt Gingrich and Michele Bachmann are expected to announce the formation of their own committees later. Maybe.
What's missing is any viable candidate at all. Imagine out of the 20 plus who have threatened...which would be qualified to hold the highest office on the planet.
Answer: none.
1). Can any of these birthers, and the Republicans who love them, prove that they are of this Earth?
2). Why is it, that many of the Republican leadership (who generally, have prestigous academic backgrounds) come-off as being more backwards, than the hicks, and small-town supporters, from rural America, whose support they manage to squander, and mis-handle, in every election?
3). Why does it take these birthers so long, to figure out, that this whole issue was brought-up, during the Democratic primary, by Democratic candidates, who ran against Obama? Doesn't it occur to them, that if it could have been used by the Dems, back then, they would have done so?
4). Doesn't anyone see the real reason why Donald Trump is running for president, on the Republican ticket? After all, he perfectly fits the mold: he's a rich, aging, angry White man, who is afraid of being out-dated.
Didn't Obama have to show his birth certificate to get his passport to go to Pakistan when he was a teen?
As did Obama - the first Presidential candidate in history to do so publically.
President Obama 's current Passport states his birthplace as Hawaii. He's had a US issued Passport since he was 6, and 'place of birth' never changes on a Passport.
How do you think he got it?
Why will no birther I address this question to even *attempt* to answer it?
Donald Trump, among many other high impressions he has of himself, fancies himself an intellectual stalwart ... but he certainly doesn't sound like one. Same for John Kasich, Rick Scott, Chris Christie, etc. If "birthplace" is a significant determinant of who can be president ... then, most certainly, INTELLIGENCE should be another, wouldn't you say?
They have blocked EVERY piece of legislation in the Senate with filibuster..over 400...most of which are the foundation for Obama and the Democrats recovery program, debt reduction and much else.
Don't like what Obama has done? Look to Boehner and the Repub teabagger masters.
Obama's birth certificate has been shown hundreds of times... On a slew of TV news programs, news magazines and a zillion websites!
John Cheney 88