What if he is, in fact, a natural born citizen and can prove it. Maybe let us know in 2012 after we have spent 4 years wasting our time and spinning our wheels on this.
Okay, in that scenario, it’s possible, but I don’t think it’s probable that it was a pre-conceived plan to do that. My suspicion is that there is something on the birth certificate that is embarrassing and he did not want it shown (something like a possible [only a guess on my part...] “Father Unknown”).
And that would have thrown the election into some chaos to have it revealed, and might have swung a few voters the other way. And so, not wanting something that was personal to get out, and not wanting negative information to sway voters, he opted to keep it quiet.
BUT, after he saw that this issue was convenient for “marginalizing” some conservatives, Obama and his advisors now want to “use the issue” to their benefit. So, if there is some sort of “plan” I would guess for a plan that they “stumbled into” — compliments of those who have been “rabid” about the issue... :-)