Arizona Sec. Of State Walks Back Birtherism, Says Obama Will Be On Ballot
After suggesting last week that he might bar Barack Obama from the ballot, Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett has relented and now says he’s satisfied the President was born in the United States:
President Obama will be on the ballot in Arizona after all.
Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett (R), who earlier this month requested more information from Hawaii on President Obama’s birth certificate, has gotten the confirmation he needed.
“Late yesterday, our office received the ’verification in-lieu of certified copy’ from officials within the Hawaii Department of Health that we requested in March,” Bennett said in a statement released Wednesday afternoon. ”They have officially confirmed that the information in the copy of the Certificate of Live Birth for the President matches the original record in their files.”
Bennett also defended his decision to request the additional information, which drew massive national headlines. The secretary of state, who is planning to run for governor in 2014, has repeatedly said that he is not a “birther” who believes Obama was born abroad. He was merely answering the requests of over a thousand Arizonans who wanted Obama’s birth certificate examined.
“At the request of numerous constituents, I merely asked Hawaiian officials to verify the information contained within President Obama’s original birth certificate,” he said in the statement. ”They have complied with the request and I consider the matter closed.”
Did you know that Bennett is one of Mitt Romney’s Arizona campaign co-chair’s? I’m thinking someone called from Boston and told him to drop this ridiculous nonsense.
I agree with you, and they probably helped Ken to put together the press release too:
I’m sure that those constituents do not consider the matter to be closed.
Well, I agree someone got to him, but I can’t believe the conspiracy leads back to Romney. There are layers to this story; just when you think you have answers, more questions pop up. The mind plays tricks on you. You play tricks back. It’s like you’re unraveling a big cable-knit sweater that someone keeps knitting and knitting and knitting and knitting and knitting and knitting and knitting…
I don’t believe anyone got to him other than, perhaps, in the “Drop this insane nonsense now you blooming idiot” sense.
I am thinking he either needs to resign as SecState or disassociate himself from Romney’s campaign. He has obviously compromised his office.
@Doug, I’m just having a little fun; I think your right.
As I was reading this story though I could imagine the conspiracies that would form from this change in attitude, and then you throw in the Romney angle at the end, and it deserves a Pee Wee Herman quote.
@PD Shaw:
Well, I agree someone got to him, but I can’t believe the conspiracy leads back to Romney.
Everyone I know has a big “but.” C’mon, PD, let’s talk about your big “but.”
My but? You can’t handle by big but!!!
And I know you are, but what am I?
Mitt Romney: Is He a Unicorn? More Than 17,000 People Want Ken Bennett to Find Out
over a thousand
ArizonansbirthersFixed that for him…
I voted for the unicorn investigation; but I warn you, if Mitt really does have a horn on his head, it’s probably just because he’s a RINO.