Wednesday's decision by President Obama to release his long form birth certificate was anything but a response to political pressure applied against him by Donald Trump and other "birthers." Obama's team has obviously had this in their quiver for the last two plus years. Like a black widow spider weaving its web, the Obama political army has been sitting, waiting for its prey.
Trump, the wealthiest of the potential 2012 Republican candidates, has loudly questioned Obama's birthplace, attempting to use his popular brand to bring the "birther" movement into the mainstream. Thanks to Trump, the issue has taken center stage, and recent polls have shown that a fair amount of voters believe that Trump is right to doubt the president's citizenship.
Today was supposed to be a good day for Trump -- his first major foray into New Hampshire, a key primary state. As it would happen, he walked right into the trap set by Obama's political operation.
Almost on cue, Trump responded in the only way he possibly could, which was to take credit for the release of the birth certificate. However, cognizant of the fact that his supporters don't trust Obama one bit, Trump managed to raise some doubt even while taking credit for the release.
“I wanna look at it, but I hope it’s true,” Trump said during a visit to Portsmouth. “We have to look at it, we have to see ‘is it real,’‘is it proper?’”
Whether spurred by Trump's comments or not, early numbers are already floating around, suggesting that still almost a quarter of Americans do not believe the newly-released certificate is authentic. Yet, it's important to note that these doubters would not vote for Obama even if the Devil himself was his opponent next year.
Obama's move this morning makes the "birthers" look like the fringe group that they are. The news will satisfy the swinging independent bloc, and in this upcoming election that's all that matters.
The far-right has wasted no time in interpreting today's news by saying that Obama may be a dual-citizen, which would preclude him from being president.
Folks, they will never stop. Meanwhile, Obama appeared presidential while he explained his decision to release the long form certificate.
"I know that there’s going to be a segment of people for which, no matter what we put out, this issue will not be put to rest. But I’m speaking to the vast majority of the American people, as well as to the press. We do not have time for this kind of silliness. We’ve got better stuff to do. I’ve got better stuff to do. We’ve got big problems to solve."
That the White House strategically waited to pounce, should demonstrate to Republicans that President Obama is going to be a formidable candidate next year.
This is why most serious GOP candidates will likely wait until 2016 to run.
Ellen Ratner is Washington bureau chief for Talk Radio News Service and a Fox News contributor.
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