No CNN “moderator” would present this issue fairly, or allow pursuit once things didn’t go Obama’s way. But Jack Cashill’s underlying point matters: given the opportunity, Mitt Romney must be ready to knock this out of the ballpark with a hammer-blow that puts the onus where it belongs – on Barack Obama. Here is my fantasy answer, which Romney would have to spew out in one breath before being cut off:
“Cathy, this is a distraction, when we need to spend every minute improving the economy and America’s future. Supporters of Hillary Clinton first made Obama’s birthplace a political issue in 2008, since a child born overseas with a non-citizen father cannot be President under our Constitution. But the man who created the “born in Kenya” story is with us tonight – Barack Hussein Obama. Mr. Obama – do you deny ever stating or writing that you were “born in Kenya”? Did you write it in your attempted memoir, “Journeys in Black & White”? Why did your literary agent promote that idea from 1991 through 2007? Mr. Obama, will you, right now, direct the State of Hawaii, Occidental, Columbia, and Harvard Universities to make your records public, and end this question, so we can get back to the country’s business (or the golf course as you frequently prefer)?”
Correct. It's difficult to say ahead of time what kind of "birther" question might get lobbed Romney's way in a debate, but if and when it comes, he needs to be able to respond in a way that places the onus, as you say, squarely on the man calling himself Barack Hussein Obama.