Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler has "a lot of doubts" about Obama's birth certificate
5:32 am - 04/11/2012Rep. Vicky Hartzler — who said last week that she has “doubts” about President Barack Obama’s birth certificate — was simply confirming “that this issue has been raised by many” of her constituents, according to her press secretary on Monday.
Hartzler’s press secretary Steve Walsh said the congresswoman, who told an audience at a town hall meeting she has “a lot of doubts” about the legitimacy of Obama’s birth certificate, is focused on job creation and the economy — not on the birth certificate controversy.
“In responding to a constituent’s question regarding the Obama birth certificate, Congresswoman Hartzler confirmed that this issue has been raised by many 4th District citizens with whom she has spoken,” Walsh told POLITICO. “Congresswoman Hartzler is focused on bringing about the conditions which are favorable to the creation of jobs and the improvement of America’s economy.”
Last Thursday, the Missouri Republican responded to a constituent’s question about what she thinks regarding Obama’s birth certificate being called a forgery.
“I have a lot of doubts about all that,” she said at the town hall. “But I don’t know, I haven’t seen it. I’m kind of, I’m just at the same place you are on that. You read this, you read that. But I don’t understand why he didn’t show that right away. I mean, if someone asked for my birth certificate, I’d get my baby book and hand it out and say ‘Here it is.’”
Hartzler added that, “I think the main thing we can do, whether you agree or not, I don’t think that’s the real issue, the real issue is this November and there’s an election. And you can sue or go to court or try to get [Obama] to prove this or that, but I think that the main thing is if you like him, get out and vote for him in November, and if you don’t like him, don’t vote for him.”
After the meeting, Hartzler told the Sedalia Democrat, “I have doubts that it is really his real birth certificate, and I think a lot of Americans do, but they claim it is, so we are just going to go with that.”
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I'm really sorry you have birthers on your friends list. I was under the impression that anyone who had actually read the constitution (specifically the 14th amendment) had acknowledged that the constitution states that if you had one U.S. Citizen parent then you were a citizen. Which, considering President Obama was born in Hawaii isn't an issue, but even if he wasn't... he's still eligible for President. It's gross and it's depressing but I think the Birther movement is really just an excuse for a lot of people to spew racism and bigotry.
"MOMMYYYYYY THERE'S A BLACK MAN IN THE WHITE HOUSE! HE'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THERE! GET HIM OUT GET HIM OUT GET HIM OUUUUUT!"
No you would not. You'd howl about BUT MY RIGHT TO PRIIIIIIIVACY. And that would actually be a completely reasonable thing for you to do because it's an incredibly stupid question and people shouldn't have to deal with having their privacy invaded.
But oh, it's different when it's Obama. Because he's black, and thus inherently suspicious. I gotcha. Carry on, white America.
There is more important stuff to be worrying about that you could be dedicating your obvious presence of free time to.
/lots of feelings
Why do you birthers ask him in the first place? If anyone asked you, you would be (rightly) upset because it is an incredibly insulting and private matter to ask about.
The scary thing is that people like this get elected to office. Get the fuck over it, birthers. You think the FEC doesn't do background checks on candidates to ensure they're eligible?
The video starts with a long-winded question from an audience member who, from what I could tell (it was quiet), starts out by talking about his military history. So she's got this question from this guy whose basically said to her "I'm a military hero and btw what do you think about this birth certificate thing". The one thing she now cannot do is be dismissive. Republicans dismissing military heroes are in deep deep trouble. She certainly can't say "don't be so daft, he wouldn't be president without a valid birth certificate". She has to find a more nuanced way to move past his query that respects their question and yet doesn't buy into the birther stuff.
I would say that the "a lot of doubts" thing (in the video at least) comes across as over-compensating. The person asking the question is clearly a birther. Many Republican voters are birthers. Dismissing one is not just losing one vote, but many votes.
After the "a lot of doubts" comment she goes on to make a statement more tied to the PR side of things. If you have a valid document, just show it straight away. Publically make it clear and remove all queries for good. That's her perspective. It's not one we'd all agree with, but so long as she's making it a matter of questioning Obama's PR rather than the document itself it's rather more sensible.
Then finally she says that the validity of the document issue is not really so important. She says if you like Obama vote for him and if you don't then don't. She clearly couldn't just start with that (without being seen as someone unduly dismissing an 'American hero'), but I thought it was a good way to finish up.
But yeah, that she goes back to the whole "doubts" thing when asked afterwards is rather more dodgy. Though if they asked her specifically about the doubts statement she'd made earlier perhaps the only alternative was lying about what she'd previously said?
I'm just worried by the idea that people with ideas like this are a major source of votes for Republicans....