I think this is another tactic from Obama's team to bait opponents and the MSM to get GOP candidates on the record. Obama's quip at the breakfast seems deliberately calculated to trigger talking head interview questions to GOP quests like: "What did you think about the president's comment regarding questioning his citizenship?"
DNC polling shows that even though the crucial independents oppose Obama's policies and are stampeding to the GOP at the ballot box, independents still say they "like" Obama and his family. Questioning Obama's legitimacy is perceived by uninformed independents as being "unfair" and evokes sympathy for Obama and his family, whom independents are not ready to throw under the bus (yet!).
As of this moment any comment is a lose-lose proposition for a GOP candidate.
If a GOP candidate affirms questions about Obama's eligibility, he/she alienates the crucial, but uninformed, independents.
If a GOP candidate dismisses eligibility questions about Obama, the candidate alienates the informed members of his base.
Contrary to your assertion that this issue has died down, MSNBC, and to a lesser extent, CNN, raise the issue at every opportunity to reinforce the framing of the issue as settled by the short form HI COLB, frame the birthers as "nutballs," and try to bait GOP quests and commentators.
The other day when Olbermann had Markos Mulitsas (Kos) on to discuss the results of his "independent" poll showing that only 42% of GOP voters believe Obama is a citizen, Kos said (and subsequently posted on his blog) that O'Reilly and Beck on FOX were promoting Obama's birth ineligibility!
O'Reilly and Beck have repeatedly denigrated the issue, but Kos and the DNC are so determined to paint conservative commentators with the "crazed birther" label they are relying on the ignorance of any liberals and independents listening to MSNBC.
The DNC mysteriously said that tarring conservatives with the birther issue now was critical because it was "time sensitive"!
From WND:
"The Democrat memo said, 'Given the pressure Republican candidates feel from the extreme right in their party, there is a critical – yet time-sensitive – opportunity for Democratic candidates.
'We have a finite window when Republicans candidates will feel susceptible to the extremists in their party. Given the urgent nature of this dynamic, we suggest an aggressive effort to get your opponents on the record."'
http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=123375
What can that mean? How can that be unless new conclusive evidence, one way or the other that they are aware of, will be revealed soon?
Isn't it the Obama/DNC position that we already have conclusive proof that Obama is NBC qualified to be POTUS, so how could smearing those with doubts be time sensitive? Why wouldn't smearing them be an evergreen perpetual hammer to use on BC and NBC skeptics?
I agree that he is trying to ‘bait’ the Republicans into questioning his BC. However, it could also be a clever way of hiding the facts in plain sight. He wants to make the issue so radioactive no mainstream politico will talk about it and also to dare some to try. Win/win for him. He precludes honest discussion of this topic, and uses it as a hammer to bludgeon anyone who dares question him.