Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney did the ultimate in naked, shameless, opportunistic pandering to his all-white, conservative base when he became the latest high-profile personality to go “birther” on President Barack Obama.
On the eve of the Republican National Convention, during a campaign rally in his home state of Michigan, Romney took a not-so subtle swipe at Obama by bringing up the issue of Obama’s birthplace: “I love being home, in this place where Ann and I were raised, where both of us were born. Ann was born at Henry Ford Hospital. I was born at Harper Hospital. No one’s ever asked to see my birth certificate. They know that is the place we were born.”
The overwhelmingly white crowd laughed and cheered, reported the Detroit Free Press.
Since we know that the near-mechanical Romney is far from a witty, off-the-cuff public speaker, it is obvious that this was a deliberate, premeditated attempt to whip up his white base with demagoguery against Obama.
In a most dastardly way, Romney follows the footsteps of Donald Trump, Arizona Sheriff Jeff Arpaio and other politicians and tea party kooks who to promote the lie that President Obama wasn’t born in the United states.
Though the GOP candidate and his campaign spokesmen have dismissed all criticism of his comments by saying that they were simply a “joke,” it is very clear that Romney seeks to curry favor with the Republican base. A reported 50 percent of the Republican Party do not believe Obama was born in America, according to talkingpointsmemo.com.
Furthermore, famed birther Donald Trump is scheduled to speak at the Republican National Convention and he is the most famous of the Romney backers. That, and Romney’s acceptance of Sheriff Arpaio’s endorsement for president signifies unequivocally that Romney believes in what Obama haters stand for.
