Will the birth certificate issue help Obama in 2012?

[Philhelm]

First, I believe that Obama is a natural born U.S. citizen, but my intent isn't to debate that here. My thought is that this issue will ultimately end up helping Obama in 2012. Think about it; we have both Chris Matthews and the governor of Hawaii who support the long form birth certificate being released, presumably to end the controversy once and for all. My theory is that it will be released at an opportune moment in order to help his election, and that the call from some of his supporters to release it will be what "prompts" Obama to do so. It will be released, proving that he's a citizen, and then the media fury will be insatiable. The cries of racism against all how criticize Obama will go into maximum overdrive (well beyond the normal media levels), while making fools of those who had doubted his natural born citizenship.

The reason I wonder this, is because I see no reason why Obama wouldn't slap that birth certificate down with command and say, "See? See motherfuckers? Fuck off!" So, it may just be a card that he's waiting to play, and the likes of Chris Matthews and the Hawaiian governor are just setting up the play. Just a thought.

[Noob]

Maybe his father is not the person who we think it is?

[crazyfacedjenkins]

I agree with you, and it definitely helps him. It rallies his supporters in defending him against the kook, nut ball, quacks that actually give a rats ass about such a trivial matter.

[Bruno]

I agree with you, and it definitely helps him. It rallies his supporters in defending him against the kook, nut ball, quacks that actually give a rats ass about such a trivial matter.

You left out the larger majority of the rational human electorate that cares about the Constitutional requirements for the President of the United States.

[dannno]

I agree with you, and it definitely helps him. It rallies his supporters in defending him against the kook, nut ball, quacks that actually give a rats ass about such a trivial matter.

What about those who care about having a President that can't be blackmailed over such a "trivial" issue, a "trivial" issue that could potentially result in Obama's execution by the state?

If this is something that Obama could be executed over, by law, how do you have the gal to call it trivial?

I don't want Obama to be executed, I could care less where he was born.. What I care about is when Obama says, "I want to bring the troops home" and someone says, "No, sorry, you can't", then Obama says, "Yes, I'm going to do it anyway." and the other guy says, "You better not do that, we could have your real birth certificate released and have you executed."

[dannno]

With all the politicians being blackmailed in DC, it amazes me that the anti-birthers can't think of a scenario where the President could be blackmailed over this.

[jmdrake]

Yeah, it could be. Bush was certainly helped when Dan Rather had to admit he'd been duped even though there were legitimate questions as to whether or not Bush showed up for national guard duty. There are definitely better things to go after Obama on, just like there were better things to go after Clinton on. That said the constitutional citizenship requirement is legitimate and Obama should have just settled this years ago instead of dragging it out. It's concerning that I've seen several people hear at RPF advocating for "nullifying the constitution" on this point just so the issue would go away. Makes you wonder who's side their on.

[crazyfacedjenkins]

You left out the larger majority of the rational human electorate that cares about the Constitutional requirements for the President of the Unites States.

They don't give a rat's ass about the parts that matter. It should be ignored like a shitty law and removed from the constitution

[Bruno]

They don't give a rat's ass about the parts that matter. It should be ignored like a shitty law and removed from the constitution

Who is "they"?

You are advoacting ignoring the "shitty" parts you don't like of the Constitution? You realize that slippery slope, don't you? Our pesky freedoms that we have left are next. I care about following all parts of the Constitution. If the states have enough votes to amend it, fine, otherwise, it is still a requirement. And if we would have all agreed to ignore it beforehand, we might have had Schwarzenegger or someone else president. Or a rich person from any other part of the country that could fund a huge campaign and affect our elections.

[qh4dotcom]

Problem for Obama is that how will he explain that it took him 4 years to release it and why he allowed the controversy to get out of hand by not releasing it earlier.
Also an old 1961 document/birth certificate is not that hard to forge.

[Bruno]

I would think the opposite. Of course I'm no forgery expert, but you'd have to have original paper, formatting, typeset, ink, signatures of a doctor and witnesses, a document that shows normal wear and age, etc.

But to answer the OP's question, no, I don't think the issue helps Obama, unless he were to actually produce a copy most could agree with. The longer the discussion lasts without doing him doing so, the more harmful it is overall.