[Fantasywriter]

That was not your original point, at least not the one I was responding to. You said originally that Obama loved birthers & they were an asset to him, much like hippie war protestors were an asset to Nixon. I pointed out that questions re: Obama’s ever changing nativity tales hurt him, and hurt him in proportion to how much attention they received. [I.e.: they hurt him most when Trump took up the cause & publicized it as never before.] This is the sole point I was responding to. If you wish to change the subject, you will have to do it w’out me. [At least for tonight; I’m not of time.]

[Tau Food]

The point is the same one. it wasn't so much that the birther case was a bad case as that there was never any case at all. Thus, it never created any serious political risk for Obama. And, as time went on, it became increasingly easy to marginalize the birthers as folks who lived in their own fantasy world. With public records and contemporary newspaper notices, it was easy to make birthers look like kooks and nuts. And, since they had no evidence of a foreign birth, they had no way to seriously defend or redeem themselves.

It helps to have opponents like that, particularly if you can associate them with the opposing candidate.