In 2007, Obama had no presidential buttons to push as he does today to manipulate his public image. And yet even then, something happened that helped Obama become perhaps the biggest long-shot presidential victor of any election year. Somehow – perhaps at Obama’s own instigation – the validity of Obama’s birth certificate became a major issue against his campaign. And that sideshow helped him to win the presidency.
It was at this point in the 2008 campaign that Obama ceased being a non-entity and started to become a political “bull” fighter. Indeed, he found the perfect “bull” to deal with. He developed the Republican Party to become the enraged, simple-minded bull. He obviously learned how to do this (and more) in the mock-trial competitions at Harvard Law School.
At key points, Obama the lithe matador then provoked the GOP bull by acting out especially coy reactions to the birth certificate issue, enraging the dumb animal more and more, provoking the “bull” whose last name begins with an “s” to crash into more and more terrible walls.
Meanwhile, in 2008, the independents marveled that Obama must be so good that all the Republicans can put on him is a highly questionable birth certificate story. That’s when the independents started supporting Obama in droves. In that year, I was one of the small minority of independents to actually vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin.
I am not pinning the blame for any of this on Donald Trump, who had nothing at all to say about birth certificates in 2008. In fact, I think we should thank Trump for forcing the issue to a breaking point. But there are many other Republicans and especially Republican radio shock jocks who still do not want leave the birth certificate issue, because they are still “having fun:” with it.
Yet in every public school, you will find some kinds who feel “having fun” is more important than getting good grades.
It is clear that Obama has been enjoying the birth certificate issue as well, but unlike the Republicans, at least he is gaining stature from this debate. In fact, Obama wants to keep the Bull S— going. So Obama has now promised to bring out a video version of his birth certificate, perhaps before he brings out the Osama death certificate.
Clearly this scene is getting to be more and more farcical, and who better to orchestrate a farce than the long-haired centerpiece of “The Apprentice?” Typically, the publicity-loving Trump now says he is going to convert the public debate to a national dialogue about Obama’s school grades.
More recently, I heard a report on the radio that Republicans are now going after Obama’s vaccination record, that in fact although Obama says he has taken his shots, in reality he is scared of the sight of a needle. At any other time this report would obviously be taken as a joke. But in the farcical atmosphere of the present national debates, it is getting more difficult to distinguish between what is true and what is a joke.
The one thing we can be sure of is that this disintegration of serious opposition to Obama is all to Obama’s favor. His popularity in the wake of this debate has risen practically off the charts.
In fact, the single instance in recent years that the Republican Party actually acted like a professional opposition party was during the 2010 Congressional elections, when the Republicans chose real meat-and-potatoes issues like jobs and the nation’s finances. That much professionalism demolished Democrats in every state but California. But all that has changed in a very short time.
In the present carnival atmosphere, don’t be surprised to see Obama pull off another landslide victory in 2012 like he did in 2008, and most of all to bring back to Congress the many “yes men” that he has just lost in the 2010 election. If that happens, we can expect to see those massive government programs once again in even more numerous production lines. Does anyone remember them?
Chris Sharp – Commentary
Chris Sharp is an Educator and a prize-winning professional writer. He has recently published a new book titled “Dangerous Learning: The New Schooling in California.” His commentaries represent his own opinions and not necessarily the views of any organization he may be affiliated with or those of the West Ranch Beacon.