COMMENTARY | No matter what Donald Trump wants in the 2012 election, the birther issue needs to die soon if the Republicans want to be taken seriously over the next year. As a former political consultant, I would suggest the GOP keep with arguments that people can actually get behind. The party needs to keep make unemployment, job creation, spending and national security in the forefront, not President Barack Obama's birth certificate.
This week, we saw headlines all over the Internet about how Rick Perry might be taking up the banner for the birther argument. Trump told Piers Morgan he believed the argument could help Perry in the election. In all honesty, people could care less at this point about where the president was born. They are more concerned with getting back to work, finding a secure job that will be around a long time, having the deficit reduced and making sure that their kids are safe from a terrorist attack.
When I was a high school debate coach many years ago, I used to teach that sometimes it was a good thing to come up with a radical and off-the-wall argument to throw off the competition. While this tactic is good for the classroom, it is not good when dealing with national votes. The Republican camps have given us the birther arguments while Vice President Joe Biden has tried to tell us that murder and rape would increase if the rich are not taxed more. Arguments such as these trivialize the election and mock the intelligence of the American people.
A Republican is not going to win the 2012 election by trying to drag up an argument over President Obama's birth certificate. The office is going to be won by proving that there is a better alternative to the current administration. Arguments to show what President Obama is doing wrong, and what he has not done that he should have, are what are going to turn the White House over.
Every moment that is spent questioning President Obama's birth certificate is a moment that is wasted. For once, I would love to hear a strong and confident comeback by the Republicans over the birther issue. When asked "Do you believe that President Obama's birth certificate is real?" someone should answer "Who cares? I am going to beat him no matter what country he was born in."
