Whitman campaign's "birther" moment in Escondido

Michael Smolens
Thursday, June 24, 2010 at 11:06 a.m.

If there was ever a sign that this is the slow campaign season, this may be it.

A video has been posted on YouTube of radio figure Mark Larson making a brief aside to the so-called "birther" claim about President Barack Obama at an Escondido rally for Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman -- on June 5.

Democrats are trying to make hay about the video to remind voters that Whitman did take a jag to the right before the June 8 primary election. That they're making this link by using what Larson said at the rally suggests campaign material is pretty thin these days.

The birthers, of course, insist Obama wasn't born in the United States, and thus isn't a citizen and thus doesn't qualify to be president. All of this has been debunked, but the movement persists.

In warming up the crowd, Larson jokes about Obama finding a tar ball during a visit to the Gulf of Mexico coast. Eventually, Larson says "And he has a birth certificate? I don't really know." Larson chuckles and some in the audience laugh.

That's it. Maybe the campaigns need a summer recess.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/weblogs/a ... escondido/