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Obama’s Trump Card The damage the Donald can do
National Review online ^ | April 26, 2011 | Thomas Sowell

Posted on 04/26/2011 9:28:40 AM PDT by jmaroneps37

The boomlet for Donald Trump as a Republican nominee for president of the United States ought to be a wake-up call for Republican candidates and Republican party leaders alike.

Why has Trump surged ahead of other Republican candidates and potential candidates in the polls? It is not likely that his resurrection of the issue of Barack Obama’s birth certificate has aroused all this support.

The birth-certificate issue does more political damage to Obama’s critics than to the president himself, because it enables the media to paint those critics as kooks. Nor are Donald Trump’s political positions such as to create a stampede to his cause.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Radio-talk-show host Mark Levin has rebroadcast Trump’s varied and mutually contradictory statements on political issues and personalities over the years. It was a devastating revelation of Trump’s “versatility of convictions,” to use a phrase coined long ago by Thorstein Veblen.

So then what is Donald Trump’s appeal? And why should it concern Republican leaders in general?

Trump has what so many other Republicans are so painfully lacking: the ability and the willingness to articulate arguments clearly, forcefully, and in plain English. Too many Republicans talk like the actor of whom a critic once said, “he played the king like he was afraid that someone else was going to play the ace.”

What electrified so many Republicans about Sarah Palin in the 2008 election campaign was that her speeches offered such a contrast to the usual mealy-mouthed talk common among other Republican candidates, including Sen. John McCain. Whether you agreed or disagreed with her position on the issues, you didn’t have to wave your hand in front of her eyes to see if she was awake.

Donald Trump is dangerous in at least two senses. If, by some tragic miracle, he should become the Republicans’ candidate for president in 2012, that would be the closest thing to an iron-clad guarantee of a second term in the White House for Barack Obama.

That would be a huge setback for the Republicans — and, far more important — a historic catastrophe for this country.

What seems more likely is that Donald Trump as a candidate for the Republican nomination would use his superior articulation skills — not to mention brash irresponsibility — to trash all the other Republican candidates for that nomination, leaving them damaged goods in the eyes of the public, and therefore less able to gather the votes needed to prevent the reelection of Obama.

Why Republicans seem not to understand the crucial importance of putting the same time and attention into articulating their positions as the Democrats do is one of the enduring mysteries of American politics.

It was obvious that the Democrats coordinated their talking points and catch-phrases — “social justice,” “tax cuts for the rich,” etc. — even before the overheard and recorded statements of Sen. Chuck Schumer about Democrats’ plans to repeatedly use the word “extreme” to characterize Republicans.

But how many Republican catch phrases can you remember? Republican rhetoric tends to range from low key to no key.

Nor is there much evidence that Republicans have asked themselves how the left wing of the Democratic party gained such ascendancy in recent years, in a country where millions more people identify themselves as conservative than as liberals.

In short, there is little or no evidence that most Republicans see any need to fundamentally change their approach to the public. But if they think that they can rely on Obama’s declining popularity to win the 2012 election, they may be in for a rude shock. Worse yet, the whole future of this country and of Western civilization will be in jeopardy — in a world where the likes of Iran and North Korea become nuclear powers while we engage in empty talk at the U.N.

Barack Obama’s declining support in public-opinion polls makes some conservatives feel that his reelection hopes are doomed. But Donald Trump can be Barack Obama’s secret weapon in his fight to remain in the White House. The Donald can be his Trump card.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: certifigate; comboverboy; sowell; thomassowell; trump; trumpery
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To: curiosity; All

Everyone take a look at “Curiosity’s” account.

You will see that Curosity is on Obama’s side on almost every debate. Just look at Curiosity’s response to any conservative post. I wonder how many “Curiosity’s” are on Free Republic?


161 posted on 04/26/2011 5:52:12 PM PDT by Sprite518
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To: BuckeyeTexan

>>What if I could show you that Kenyans listed their race as “African” on other documentation? What if I could show you another COLB that listed the father’s race as a continent instead of an actual race? Would that put the “African is not a race” issue to rest for you?<<

You send me a copy from a site that is a shill for Obama and expect me to take you seriously? The thing has no seal, no official anything to designate it as authentic. Give me a break. Then you reference the Kenyan census. Now that is relevant because I seriously think he was born in Kenya. In fact the news article about him winning the election in Illinois about the “Kenyan born” was more credible.


162 posted on 04/26/2011 7:11:20 PM PDT by CynicalBear
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To: CynicalBear

Well, I suppose you’re too lazy to research it on ancestry.com, right? I imagine since Keala Harriet Hardesty was born in 1907 that she’s dead now. So you could also probably request a certified copy directly from the HDoH. You could probably even get it through a UIPA or FOIA request. But you’re probably too lazy to do that either I bet. If you really want to know the truth instead repeating rumors, you’ll do a little bit of work. I’ve done the hard part for you.


163 posted on 04/26/2011 9:07:53 PM PDT by BuckeyeTexan (There are those that break and bend. I'm the other kind. *4192*)
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To: CynicalBear

Well, I suppose you’re too lazy to research it on ancestry.com, right? I imagine since Keala Harriet Hardesty was born in 1907 that she’s dead now. So you could also probably request a certified copy directly from the HDoH. You could probably even get it through a UIPA or FOIA request. But you’re probably too lazy to do that either I bet. If you really want to know the truth instead repeating rumors, you’ll do a little bit of work. I’ve done the hard part for you.


164 posted on 04/26/2011 9:08:24 PM PDT by BuckeyeTexan (There are those that break and bend. I'm the other kind. *4192*)
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To: Sprite518
Answer: Obama has failed to prove he was born in the U.S.A.... Sorry but COLB is a not about real as the Easter Bunny. To this date Obama has not released to the public his long term birth certificate.

What do you say now in light of today's news?

165 posted on 04/27/2011 10:28:03 AM PDT by curiosity
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To: realetybytes
Okay, if he was in school as a foreign student,

First of all, I'm not sure what it means to "be in school as a foreign student." Please explain what that means, exactly, and then explain how it relates to eligibility.

166 posted on 04/27/2011 10:29:58 AM PDT by curiosity
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To: curiosity; All

I stand by those words you Obama hack. I’ve seen all your previous posts. It’s obvious who you are... Anyone on Free Republic can see this.

Look on the top of the form genius... It says, “Certificate Of Live Birth” and once again it’s NOT a Birth Certificate.

So was the first COB form bogus? What about the word “African” vs. “Negro” in 1961. I did not know that Hawaii was using such politically correct words in 1961???

Zoom in on the PDF document offered from the White House and you can clearly see the white out and the type over.


167 posted on 04/27/2011 10:34:25 AM PDT by Sprite518
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To: Sprite518
I stand by those words you Obama hack.

So you will stand by your irrational beliefs no matter what evidence is presented to you. Thought so.

This proves Birtherism is not just a conspiracy theory; it's also a cult.

Have fun with your delusions.

168 posted on 04/27/2011 10:38:42 AM PDT by curiosity
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To: curiosity

LOL....

Wow you can’t even counter one of my points other than personally attack me.

CHECK MATE!

I managed to download a PDF file (from the White House Web Site) and was looking at what you are looking at.

PLEASE TAKE A LOOK AT THIS.

1) In Adobe right click over the document and left click “Marquee Zoom”

2) Now scroll up and down the document (with wheel on your mouse). Look at what you were looking at. You are correct Sir! Outstanding work!

You can clearly see it it in the name Barack (how the R sticks out), and then scroll down the document and you can clearly see the white out with the type over.

Oh I KNOW... You are too Chicken $hit to examine it yourself. It’s called facts... Deal with it.


169 posted on 04/27/2011 10:42:49 AM PDT by Sprite518
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To: curiosity

Have fun with this,

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B7RBLw083OS5NjI4NGY2YTItZjMyOC00ODZjLThkY2EtNzlkZTc3NmNkZmE0&hl=en

CHECK MATE!

Can you say, “Constitutional Crisis”?


170 posted on 04/27/2011 11:16:19 AM PDT by Sprite518
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To: Sprite518
LOL. More bogus "document analysis" from amateur hacks who don't know what they're doing.

Admit it. No matter what proof Obama presents to you, no matter how authentic or valid, you will never accept it so long as it contradcits the teachings of your cult.

171 posted on 04/27/2011 11:19:56 AM PDT by curiosity
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To: curiosity

Really? I need to explain what going to school registered or receiving scholarships as a foreign student would mean to someone who purports to be a “natural born citizen”?
(Not sayin’ he ain’t, just that he has left open questions on this and other issues).


172 posted on 04/27/2011 4:21:40 PM PDT by realetybytes (realetybytes.com)
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To: realetybytes
Really? I need to explain what going to school registered or receiving scholarships as a foreign student would mean to someone who purports to be a “natural born citizen”?

Please do.

173 posted on 04/27/2011 4:37:49 PM PDT by curiosity
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To: curiosity

No, judging from your responses, it would obviously be beyond your comprehension.
Do be well, and live free.


174 posted on 04/28/2011 7:59:15 AM PDT by realetybytes (realetybytes.com)
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