This is an argument that was not invented in the GOP conspiracy lab. It didn't start from the crazy mouth of Glenn Beck (he actually thinks this argument is ridiculous and flat out stupid). It wasn't made from behind Rush's Golden EIB Microphone (he too finds it dumb and harmful to the conservative movement). It wasn't made behind closed doors of tea partyers (the tea party wasn't even really thought of at this point). I am talking about the argument that President Obama was not born in America.
If you really want to see the culprit of this pointless argument (that will only lead to an Obama victory in 2012), you must look at the two-headed monster, known to most as the Clinton Machine. This asinine argument on whether or not President Obama was born in America began in emails between Hilary's 2008 campaign staff. Now there is no evidence that Mrs. Clinton took part in any of these discussions, and I frankly am going to side with Hilary, in that she is smart enough to not take part in such a dumb conspiracy, but I also know that the Clinton Machine itself is not above making such conspiracies. This blog however is not about the who started the whole "birthers" movement. This blog is a plea to the birthers themselves. I want the people who really want to use this argument in the upcoming election, to step back... Step back and take a deep breath, and really reevaluate what you are getting yourself into. You are getting yourself into a position where you cannot escape. You cannot escape because you are putting all your eggs in one basket, and hoping for a one in billion chance that you are right (and a billion is being generous). There are so many more arguments that you can make that are actually factual. You need to let go of the notion that you will find the smoking gun you so desperately want in late October of 2012.
What Republicans, conservatives, libertarians and even you damn fence riding independents (who do not want to see Obama win a second term) need to do, is to reject this back-firing plan that will guarantee a Republican loss in November 2012. This is an argument that Obama can win every time he's challenged with it. He has shown his birth certificate, the problem is that the birthers believe its a fake because the certificate that was shown was not an original, but a photocopy. He has presented a birth certificate, the local newspaper in Hawaii where Obama was born have birth announcements, and Obama was one of the babies mentioned. Of course there will always be skeptics and that is not bad thing. Everything must be questioned, but at some point it stops being skeptical, and becomes conspiratorial. We as opponents of the Obama administration must get past this conspiracy and move on to strategies that will work, and that we actually have evidence to back up our claims, and won't be mocked by Obama supporters. Because this birth certificate argument is at the point of being just a punchline for the left.
The reason I titled this blog Swiftboating the Birthers, is that I see parallels between this strategy, and strategies made in the 2004 election. John Kerry and his goons attempted to run on the fact the Bush did not truly serve his country in the Texas Air National Guard. The Kerry camp used old videos of a younger John Kerry talking to congress about atrocities that American soldiers committed against the Vietnamese civilians, and he was using these same kind of arguments against Bush and the Iraq war. Then came the Swiftboat Veterans for Truth. This small group of men completely torpedoed Kerry and his claims. They brought a large amount of skepticism among the voters and really harmed his campaign. Though that fight never really resolved, and I suppose it kind of did resolve, being that Kerry lost the race. I fear that the birth certificate strategy will end up just like that; a feeble attack that will bring more harm to those that use it, than they ever could to Obama. I believe that the Obama campaign is hoping and praying that whoever runs against him will use this birther strategy, because they know they can deflect the attack, and force whoever originated the attack to run for cover. And while the candidate is trying to recover from the ricochet, Obama will sachet to landslide in his favor.
In my next blog, I'm going to present real strategies and arguments that can be used, and how a Republican can run against Obama by using fresh ideas.
