I think there is something about the possibility of the “birthers” being right about the eligibility issue that simply scares the pee-willies out of almost all political creatures, and I think Ann Coulter is no exception.
At this point, conservatives who have made sport of the “birthers” have almost as much reason to fear a revelation of ineligibility as those exposed and implicated in such a colossal fraud would have. They’d be finished as serious players in the punditry game. Expect no support, or active opposition from them.
I don't think it's the possibility that the birthers are right that scares people.
I think it's the possibility that it's not provable one way or the other (for a variety of reasons), given the available processes and circumstances, and that, left out there, it has real potential to create a third-party wave that is not large enough to get their guy elected, but large enough to assure the re-election of Barack Obama.
That is a valid worry.
Can it be addressed some other way than Ann did tonight? Yes.