Defending Mitt Romney’s ‘Birther’ Humor – Calm Down Democrats, It’s a Joke

A Rare Instance of This Forum Being on Mitt’s Side

The accusation by Conservatives that Barack Obama was not born in America and thus is not eligible to be President is one of the many fantasy ideas that Conservatives hold.  The public has long moved on, and the only reason that the issue is still alive is that regular and normal people (that is, non-Conservatives) cannot believe that those who argue the birther issue still do so.

So when Mitt Romney made a joke about the issue in Michigan, telling supporters

Noting that he and his wife, Ann, were born in Michigan hospitals, Romney said at a rally here: “No one’s ever asked to see my birth certificate. They know that this is the place where both of us were born and raised.”

the proper response should have been

1. ignoring the attempt at humor
2. recognizing that this was about as funny as Mitt can get
3. thinking, gee, that is pretty funny and Democrats ought to follow up by making jokes of their own.
4. None of the above

Well of course Democrats, like Republicans being politically tone deaf took the wrong answer, D, and for some idiotic reason decided to make an issue of this.

The Obama campaign seized on the remark to argue that Romney was embracing “strident” conservatives, including real estate mogul Donald Trump as well as Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, two of the most hard-line opponents of illegal immigration.

No, he wasn’t.  He was trying to be funny and entertaining, and measured by Mitt standards he was. 

“The governor has always said, and has repeatedly said, he believes the president was born here in the United States,” Romney adviser Kevin Madden said. “He was only referencing that Michigan, where he is campaigning today, is the state where he himself was born and raised.”

If Democrats had any political sense (they don’t, which is why the election is so close) they would have answered back with a few funny lines of their own, gotten the upper hand and given the impression that they, unlike the Republicans, were not a bunch of ultra-sensitive, uptight, humorless pols. 

So this Forum defends Mitt on this.  Savor it Mr. Romney, given your history and positions and statements we don’t think that will happen very much in the future.