WASHINGTON — Saying the nation didn’t have time for continued “silliness,” President Barack Obama on Wednesday released his official birth certificate, a move that seemingly raised as many questions as it answered.
Obama’s surprising intervention came as the White House saw that doubts about his birth in Hawaii — and therefore his legitimacy to be president — were growing, consuming more of the political debate and the mainstream media’s attention.
The White House calculation Wednesday was that it was necessary to try to deflate the issue, even though Obama ended up swamping the news with the very topic he said he wanted to quash.
Donald Trump, weighing a 2012 presidential campaign against Obama, crowed that he had forced the president’s hand.
On TV, Obama said the issue was distraction from the important matters of the day: budget deficits and soaring gasoline prices.
“We do not have time for this kind of silliness,” Obama said in hurriedly announced appearance in the White House briefing room. “We’ve got better stuff to do.”
The president also sought to push to the national fringe anyone who refused to accept the facts about his birth, taking an indirect swipe at Trump, who has been loudly stirring up the matter.
“We’re not going to be able to solve our problems if we get distracted by sideshows and carnival barkers,” Obama said.
The release of the longer birth certificate is unlikely to sway most doubters, who point to the fact that it is being released years after questions were first raised. The document contains only slightly more detail than the short form that Obama’s campaign released in 2008, but besides listing an attendant and a local registrar, there isn’t much new information.
Conservative Denver radio talk show host Peter Boyles, who said he always thought Obama was born in Hawaii, said the Wednesday timing raised more questions. He wishes Obama would release other documents — like his college transcripts and his passport.
“We know more about the life of George Washington than the life of Barack Obama,” Boyles said. “The interesting thing is why it took all this time to be released.”
Lu Busse, a 9.12 statewide party leader, jokingly dubbed those concerned with the president’s additional documents “the dockers.”
“Instead of birthers, we want documentation. We’d like to look at his past,” she said, noting she is not a conspiracy theorist. “I do agree it would be nice to have additional information to evaluate President Obama, but in the interim, there are a lot of other things we need to deal with. I’m going to focus on what I can do something about.”
Rep. Cory Gardner, a Republican from Yuma, was asked about the issue on the 2010 campaign trail, where he and his staffers gave varying answers, according to published reports.
Gardner, in 2009, said at a Fort Collins town-hall meeting, “I think the administration is trying to say he was born in this country.”
His then-spokesman further muddied the issue by saying Gardner believed Obama was “most likely a citizen” of the United States. He also said that Gardner didn’t spend much time thinking about it.
On Wednesday, Gardner’s spokeswoman Rachel Boxer said, “Today is no different than yesterday. The congressman has always believed that President Obama was born in the United States.”
Rep. Doug Lamborn, a Colorado Springs Republican, did not want to weigh in, and neither did Rep. Scott Tipton of Cortez.
Rep. Mike Coffman, a Republican from Aurora, is overseas on a trip but said in a 2009 interview that Obama was a citizen.
Denver Post wire reports contributed to this report.
Allison Sherry: 202-662-8907 or asherry@denverpost.com
