I agree with you on this. If he gets re-elected, it might not matter who runs in 2016.
Before I was a lawyer, I was a combat Marine officer. Marines have a reputation for being tough, but Marines really pride ourselves on fighting smart as well. There are a bunch of military analogies I won't use, but they all go to the enemy suckering you into territory of his choosing anbd finding yourself trapped, fighting a battle on the wrong piece of ground.
Oh heck, I will use one. One of the most famous campaigns in Marine history was the Chosin Reservoir campaign. It's famous because those Marines displayed incredible toughness and professionalism in fighting their way out of North Korea at great odds. But one critical factor in the successful "advance in another direction" was that the CG of 1st Marine Division, O.P. Smith, refused to get suckered into over-pursuing Chinese and NK units. He deliberately dawdled in carrying out some orders so he could keep his units more concentrated and better able to resist a Chinese attack he was sure was coming, even if MacArthur wasn't. And the Chinese wanted to drag him further north, get his regiments strung out in the mountains, and then strike for complete destruction. But by refusing to take the bait, and not getting sucked into a battle on bad terrain where his division would be isolated, Smith made the key decision that may have saved the whole division. It left the 1st MarDiv sufficiently concentrated, just barely, to tear the guts out of the swarm of Chinese divisions seeking to destroy them.
To me, the birth certificate argument is just bad ground. The left wants conservatives to jump all over that argument, because it hasn't been successful and, in the minds of the swing voters we must win in 2012, discredits anyone who jumps on board. It's the lovely red herring out there.
Whatever anyone else chooses to believe here, I'm a dedicated conservative lawyer with a pretty good pedigree. And if they can't convince a guy like me that I'm wrong on the 14th Amendment, then there is absolutely zero hope of convincing all the people more in the middle that you'd need to convince to get any real political mileage out of the issue.
Howard Dean tried that this week with opposition to healthcare and was portrayed as a condescending elitist.
It work well last time in part because McCain would not let (Palin) or others question who Obama was.
Funny how he took the gloves off in his last senate fight. He is also an elitist. (imo)
We have the power of the Tea Party Movement
There is no reason the next campaign cannot be different. We need a candidate that will be able the stand up to the MSM and ask Obama tough Questions.
one of our biggest road blocks will be RINOs, Rove approved candidates ,election fraud and funding.
Ok. I love that story. It puts things in perspective. So, let’s get crackin’! I already threw out a crazy idea for debate way back there on the thread. You know the celebrate the constitution idea. Your turn. Throw out a crazy idea. Let’s get some story-boarding going. Are you familiar with this technique in relation to problem solving? It’s a really great process and always leads to creative approaches, especially when dealing with insightful people, as this thread if FULL of! :) So, go, Bruce, throw out a crazy idea for debate. Make sure it is really out there...that is the point of story-boarding. Conservatives are NOT going to lose, but we have got to get going. Time is getting short for battle plans. You game?
Bruce Campbells Chin,
The terrain has changed.
When Chrissy ( Tingle Up the Leg) Matthews starts asking the tough question, “So why doesn't Obama release the long form birth certificate?”, then Obama is in trouble. Obama’s very questionable natural born status is now sitting squarely in birther-friendly “terrain”.
That we have a “terrain” at all is due to the tireless efforts of the birthers who have kept this issue before the public by using word of mouth ( neighbor to neighbor), the Internet, the courts, and a few sympathetic conservative media outlets. May God bless them forever!
And....SHAME SHAME SHAME on all those who attempted, ( oh! sooooo slyly) to discourage the birthers with their unctious, slicker than snot, and cleverly crafted legal reasonings while claiming to be “conservatives”.
You stated, “To me, the birth certificate argument is just bad ground. The left wants conservatives to jump all over that argument, because it hasn't been successful and, in the minds of the swing voters we must win in 2012, discredits anyone who jumps on board.”
This is NOT NOT NOT NOT about 2012 election, any political strategy to defeat Obama personally, or about trouncing the Democrat Party. The birthers are defending the CONSTITUTION and THE RULE OF LAW!
If Obama is eligible then he deserves his place in the White House. If he is not eligible then his presence there further shreds the Constitution and the rule of law, and weakens the very foundation upon which the American way of life **literally** lives or dies. ( That, by the way, is a hill worth defending!)
Defending the Constitution is a battle worth fighting. Hopefully, if we do so NOW, legislatively, in the courts, and ( most important) in the courts of public opinion, we can keep this conflict peaceful.
By the way...I am curious, at what point would you take serious action to uphold your oath to defend the Constitution against **domestic** enemies? Would you consider having a usurper sitting in the White House a domestic enemy and a threat to the Constitution? And...What good is a law degree without an intact Constitution and sound rule of law?
As I’ve been reading through some of these posts from today I see conflicting statements regarding the 14th amendment.
If Bambi is qualified by way of the 14th as Bruce Campbells Chin claims, there’s no mention in the 14th of a “Natural Born Citizen” and at the same time that the 14th was ratified, wouldn’t Article 2 have needed to be amended to qualify a non-natural born citzen?
Just wondering