RSS Feed MenuSenator John McCain’s Arizona Senate campaign is calling out his primary opponent JD Hayworth for his association with the birther movement.
In a television commercial released this week, the McCain campaign calls out Hayworth for questioning President Barack Obama’s American citizenship, casting Hayworth’s concerns as irresponsible and frivolous in a time “of serious economic problems.”
Though Hayworth has never explicitly accused Obama of not possessing an American birth certificate, the former radio talk show host has stopped just short of making the accusation on several occasions.
McCain has vocally opposed the birther movement since his 2008 presidential bid.
His renewed criticism of the movement may endear McCain to Arizona moderates and Democrats, potential participants in Arizona’s open primary system.
But the tactic might backfire with active Arizonan Republicans. Recently, 40 Arizona Republicans -- out of a total of 90 Arizona State legislators – passed a bill demanding that presidential candidates send a copy of their birth certificate to the Arizona lawmakers.
The bill:
Requires that written notice from a national political party committee for a presidential candidate that is entitled to representation on the ballot be sent to the Arizona Secretary of State (Secretary), that contains the party’s nomination of candidates for president and vice-president.
Arizonan Republicans’ preoccupation with American citizenship is not surprising given the state’s illegal immigration woes; citizenship is a hot topic in the state in general.
Regardless, the passing of the bill does not bode well for the McCain campaign’s relationship with the GOP grassroots.
larryaz50 // Feb 27, 2010 at 10:09 pm
Annie, no problem. I don’t think it’s a matter of hundreds of people involved directly. School records, as well as other documents, can be sealed and no one would be able to release them. And people can be bought off or threatened. As far as Columbia is concerned, aside from sealed records there is no evidence that he even attended. I would think that someone would remember him attending.
There are just too many questions that are unanswered and everything in his past is a secret. He must be hiding something. So much for “transparency”.
anniemargret // Feb 27, 2010 at 11:08 pm
larry: one last attempt. I gather you dislike Obama intensely . That’s OK, your perogative. But think!
Yes, a few people can but bought off, or threatened, etc…. Not hundreds. Out of all those people, one can come forward and make oodles of money divulging secrets. They can go to the WaPo, NYT or even the Enquirer (since they’re up for an award for the Edwards fiasco now). Just one with the facts can do this. Explode it wide open.
The reason it did not happen, is because there isn’t anything to explode. We live in a very open society, where everyone can find anyone and know just about everything with a flick of the wrist on your PC. No privacy anymore. No celebrity or politician or would-be President can manipulate that many people. A few perhaps. Not hundreds.
But I stand with you. And I am being sincere here. Because if *anyone* Democrat or Republican commits fraud against the American people, I would be in the front lineup hollering. My country comes first, my party second.
Btw…all presidents ‘hide something.’ Do you remember the brouhaha about GWB43’s military records, the persistent ‘AWOL’ accusations, etc…? I, for one, didn’t care what he did or didn’t do back when he was a young guy. I am more concerned with what Presidents and their administrations do in the present. I was far more concerned with what Bush/Cheney were doing while in office, then if he had a few beers, got drunk, etc… when he was young and stupid. They all have done ’stupid’ or something distasteful. We all hopefully get smarter as we get older, no?
I simply cannot believe hundreds of people are part of some grand scheme to defraud the American people. Sorry.
balconesfault // Feb 28, 2010 at 8:33 am
As far as Columbia is concerned, aside from sealed records there is no evidence that he even attended. I would think that someone would remember him attending.
Seriously? The allegation is that Harvard Law admitted someone who had falsified their Columbia transcripts? You really don’t think the Ivy League Colleges … oh … talk?
Hell, you can’t get financial aid from an Ivy League school until all the Ivy League schools who have admitted you share their financial aid offerings with one another to make sure they’re relatively in alignment.
I’ve joked before, and I’ll say it again – we have no evidence that Barack Obama wasn’t really leading multiple Harlem street gangs during his years he was supposed to be studying at Columbia. It’s time to demand proof that he wasn’t!
usfrog // Feb 28, 2010 at 11:55 am
Anniemargaret : The birther issue is serious. You have to document yourself on the FACTS not just blogs where many people don’t really know what they are talking about. Obama has never been eligible to be president even if he had a long form birth certificate proving he was born in Hawaii. To be “natural born” you have to be born on US soil and have 2 parents who are US citizens. His father was born in Kenya which was still a British colony. He was British before the independance and Kenyan afterwards. Obama automatically received Kenyan citizenship from his father. However way you look at it, his father was never a US citizen and therefore Barry is not “natural born”. This requirement, which only concerns the office of POTUS was put in the Constitution so that the President will never be a dual citizen of any other country. This is called “divided loyalties”. Furthermore, when he moved to Indonesia with his mother when she married Mr. Sotero, the latter adopted Barak and he became an Indonesian citizen. Had he been a US citizen at one time, he would have lost that citizenship by becoming Indonesian.
We know that Barak traveled to Pakistan about the time he was supposed to be attending Columbia university. Travel to Pakistan was not permitted to US citizens so we can reasonably deduce that he was travelling on an Indonesian passport.
It is possible that some wealthy person paid for his tuition at Columbia and the university gave him a degree. This has happened before and will happen again. At any rate, there have been investigations and nobody seems to remember him.
As for hiding all his credentials, Obama has spent millions of $ for lawyers to do this. We do not know much about him before he ran for Senator from Chicago. He is a puppet for some very powerful (read “wealthy”) people who want our country destroyed. People like George Soros and other groups who want to instore socialism in the US. It is not a conspiracy. This has been carefully planned for over 40 years now. They are inching their way towards their goal. Right now, our country is being led by a person who is not Constitutionally the president. This is called a usurper. I hate to shatter your dreams, but that is the way it is. I am not making this up.
We are lucky to have internet and the possibility of learning about these things. One of the goals of these groups of socialists was to dumb-down the population so that they would be unable to reason critically and see what was going on. If you look at some videos from u-Tube where people coming out of the polls were interviewed, they were totally clueless. It is really sad.
All I can do is to really encourage you to try an learn more about our country. If you want to know more about the “birth certificate issue” you can go to Philip Berg’s site. He is a lawyer. For the Columbia issue, you can check out Rev. Manning. He is a little excentric but he knows what he is talking about. Good Luck.
balconesfault // Feb 28, 2010 at 1:29 pm
Philip Berg? Way to take the high ground here.
http://www.rinf.com/columnists/news/philip-berg-seeking-the-truth-of-911
Philip J. Berg, Esquire, [Berg is a former Deputy Attorney General of Pennsylvania; former candidate for Governor and U.S. Senate; an attorney with offices in Montgomery County, PA and an active practice in Philadelphia, PA, who prior hereto has filed a RICO lawsuit against Bush and others for the events of 9/11 and plans to re-file shortly] announced today that he was issuing a call for world leaders to arrest and try Bush and Cheney for the global crimes of 9/11/01.
Well, at least he’s a bipartisan wacko, as opposed to all the strictly partisan ones who have been joining the birther movement.
larryaz50 // Feb 28, 2010 at 2:58 pm
usfrog, well said!
anniemargret // Feb 28, 2010 at 7:12 pm
usfrog: on another thread, I addressed the serious issue of a failing healthcare system in U.S. in which millions of Americans are literally dying from a lack of healthcare…because either they are jobless, or unable to purchase it due to high premiums, or are turned away because of pre-existing conditions. Some are facing disclosure due to bankruptcies from medical bills, overwhelming the families. Some people are in such a tight bind that they literally have to choose between paying their electric bill as oppposed to getting their meds that might keep them from getting ill.
You want Americans to get exercised about an attorney (or two, since the last one was thrown out of court by a judge) who are trying to prove Obama is not legitimate. As I said before, when the preponderance of evidence is presented to the Supreme Court I will pay attention. It will not happen.
I am proud that Obama is trying to address this serious issue, one that the Republicans have been shoving under the rug for decades. As far as being ‘dumbed down’…. there is not a single soul in America who has to be dumbed down unless they want to be. We have ample access to information today, as you say, with the Internet (but lies exist side by side there with the truth, too), the Fourth Estate (which isn’t always as neutral as they should be) and getting hold of the vast amount of literature available from your public library.
I am not trying to be insulting here. But 60 million Americans voted for Obama because of one of his promises was to try to rectify the rising costs of healthcare in this country, and offer millions more the opportunity to obtain some, without fear of job loss or conditions. I have three children, one of whom has a serious illness, and who has no insurance. We are not able to purchase insurance for him.
These are the things most Americans fear and think about. Truly. While you guys are trying desperately to de-legitimize the President, there are others from the other side who are trying to prove Bush/Cheney did something illegal on 9/11.
I want this country to start addressing the issues that face us everyday…we working Americans with families, aging parents, and an infrastructure and environment that is dying as we speak.
By all means, if you want to spend your energies getting the ‘goods’ on the President, go ahead. I am to too exhausted most of the time to worry about whether or not there is a conspiracy afoot in the White House. Best wishes.
usfrog // Mar 1, 2010 at 2:19 am
anniemargret :
I agree that healthcare is an important issue but the solution to it is not socialized medicine. I presently live in a country with socialized medicine and I am a conservator for 20 handicapped persons so I think that I am in a good position to discuss this. (This is not the topic of this thread, however). The answer to cheaper health insurance is free market and competition between the different companies. Currently insurance is available per state only which means that the competition is not open. This definitely needs to be changed.
Obama is a good talker and his promise of health care was surely attractive to the many who do not have it. They will be in for a big surprise when they will begin paying for it. Where I live, 25 % of one’s salary is deducted for various national benefits. Income tax is not included in that percentage. Families who have two salaries pay that 25 % twice. That certainly isn’t cheap.
I am concerned that Mr Obama may not a US citizen at all and that his ulterior motives is not the general good of the population. His agenda is increased government takeover. The more the government takes care of you, the poorer the people get. The idea of socialized medicine is attractive to people who know nothing about it.
As for the courts who are dismissing the many cases brought up against Obama, they are not respecting their oaths to uphold our Constitution. Whether we like it or not, BHO is not a “natural born citizen”. The courts know this, but each judge is afraid to be the first to open Pandora’s box. Obama has even campaigned in favor of a radical moslem group in Kenya (a cousin of his). Makes you wonder about “dual loyalties”. Although the media are mum about this, the issue will not go away until we get to the bottom of this, and eventually we will.
Carney // Mar 1, 2010 at 9:29 am
sinz54, I don’t self-identify as a birther, but I did become irritated at outraged or dismissive reactions to the question of “Where’s the birth certificate?” The whole issue of ANSWERING the question never seemed to be important; it was just seized on as a chance for ostentatiously smug posturing as hipper and more non-racist than thou. Somewhat similar to my reaction to Palin; I don’t view her as having enough experience to be President, but I loathe the hipsters who scorn her; they’d never do that to Obama despite his having even LESS experience, and much less knowledge of real life.
You’re right that conspiracy theories are inherently implausible and violate Occam’s Razor.
kevin47 // Mar 1, 2010 at 6:39 pm
“As far as Columbia is concerned, aside from sealed records there is no evidence that he even attended. I would think that someone would remember him attending.”
His roommates have given their recollections. He was a transfer student, arriving through the Oxy-Ivy back door, and I don’t think anyone has argued that he did anything remarkable at Columbia. He hasn’t released his academic records because:
a) He got lousy grades, theoretically belying the contention that the man is some sort of genius.
b) He took courses like “The White Man Rapeth: Toward a Reconciliation of Marxism and Gender in the American South”.
Or both.
3-1-2010 The Day in Review | F i a t Lux // Mar 2, 2010 at 2:50 am
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