Just in time for Halloween, the zombies of the political world are back again: the Birthers! Although their demands for President Barack Obama’s brain, er, birth certificate seemed to be placated earlier this year when said certificate was made public, it’s evident now they just won’t quit. Now they’ve infected Republican presidential candidate and Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
In a recent interview with Parade, Perry said while he believed the President was born in the United States and had “no reason to think otherwise,” he didn’t have “a definitive answer” to whether President Obama’s birth certificate was genuine. He also said he had discussed the issue with former Republican presidential candidate and infamous Birther Donald Trump, who continues to doubt the legitimacy of the President’s birth certificate despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
In the following days, he flip-flopped on the topic, telling CNBC that “it’s a good issue to keep alive” and that he “hadn’t a clue” if the birth certificate was the genuine article. He went on to claim that the issue was distracting from the real issues, namely jobs, and he was just having a bit of fun with Donald Trump.
He’s certainly tried to backpedal, which would indicate he’s sincere in his belief that it isn’t a big deal, but his statements have been ambivalent, and he seems unwilling to fully commit to either side of the birth certificate issue.
Perry’s right about this issue being a distraction, but a distraction from what? He says it’s distracting from the issue of jobs, but it seems to me that Perry’s campaign could use a good distraction to draw voter’s eyes away from his shaky tax plan and other recent gaffes.
This sudden wave of Birtherism is unfortunate but predictable, and it’s a two-edged sword for Perry’s campaign. On one hand, he’s been ridiculed by the media, who were quick to jump on his apparent subscription to a fringe conspiracy theory that was debunked once and for all six months ago.
Furthermore, this isn’t doing him any favors with other leaders of the Republican Party. Following Perry’s statements, GOP strategist Karl Rove, fellow presidential candidate Jon Huntsman and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush were all quoted dismissing the Birther movement and asserting the validity of the President’s citizenship.
Rove derided Perry on Fox News. He said, “You associate yourself with a nutty view like that, and you damage yourself… It starts to marginalize you in the minds of some of the people whom you need in order to get the election.” Rove is right, this is a quick way to off-put a lot of the mainline Republican voters and push them over to Romney’s camp.
It might be to Perry’s advantage to pander to the far-right wing of the Republican Party, where Mitt Romney hasn’t been able to gain much ground. This comes at a good time for Perry, too, as he’s been performing poorly in recent debates, and his views on immigration and his questionable tax plan haven’t been winning him many points. Perry could use this sudden wave of attention to secure some more votes in the primary. The Birther contingent is relatively small, but they’re extremely vocal, and their support could go a long way in helping Perry win the nomination. That might not be enough to make up for the losses he’ll incur with the rest of the party, however, and will probably ultimately hurt his campaign.
