Business tycoon Donald Trump has been dominating the latest news cycle with his potential presidential aspirations and his incessant pestering of President Barack Obama to prove his citizenship. Obama eventually succumbed to Trump's demands, releasing his long−form birth certificate last Wednesday after requesting it from the state of Hawaii five days earlier.
President Obama made light of the incident at the White House Correspondent's Dinner on Saturday:
"I know that he's taken some flak lately, but no one is happier, no one is prouder to put this birth certificate matter to rest than The Donald. And that's because he can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter — like, did we fake the moon landing? What really happened in Roswell? And where are Biggie and Tupac?"
Additionally, President Obama played a video of the birth of the Disney character Simba in "The Lion King" (1994). referring to it as his official birth video that would put all doubts to rest.
The president also mocked Trump's credentials as a leader during his speech. "Just recently, in an episode of ‘Celebrity Apprentice' at the steakhouse, the men's cooking team did not impress the judges from Omaha Steaks. And there was a lot of blame to go around. But you, Mr. Trump, recognized that the real problem was a lack of leadership. And so, ultimately, you didn't blame Lil Jon or Meatloaf. You fired Gary Busey. These are the kind of decisions that would keep me up at night. Well handled, sir. Well handled."
Clearly, the nascent Trump campaign is turning into a joke. Not only is he wholly unqualified to be a leader of a nation, but if the focus of Trump's campaign is going to be negative and ultimately unimportant attacks on Obama, then he will only serve to delegitimize his own campaign due to its lack of substance. The public will ultimately see through it. This is evident from the fact that Obama is not the only one who has been poking fun at Trump's focus on his birth certificate. Last week, the satirical news organization The Onion wrote an article reporting that opponents of the president were demanding to see a sample of his placenta.
Prior to the 2008 election, the Republican candidate in the general election, John McCain, was viewed by many on both sides of the aisle as a man of great substance and ability. Much of his campaign, however, was negative and focused on trivial matters such as labeling Obama a "celebrity," accusing him of "palling around with terrorists" because he vaguely knew Bill Ayers, a man who was associated with a group that conducted violent domestic attacks in protest of the Vietnam War, and putting him in a situation where he was politically forced to cut ties with his longtime friend and pastor Jeremiah Wright. Focusing on these issues so much, instead of dealing with issues of substance, hurt McCain's image in the eyes of many voters.
Clearly, Trump has not learned from McCain's mistakes. If this is the best leader that the Grand Old Party can offer up for 2012, then as a liberal, I am not all that concerned. Additionally, if Obama has been called elitist by many, and if John Edwards' $400 haircut hurt his 2008 campaign as badly as some say it did, then a Trump campaign will surely face a great deal of publicity gaffes.
By all means, please run, Mr. Trump. It will provide some solid entertainment.
--
