Palin, Birther

Photo by flickr user <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sskennel/2945573392/">sskennel</a> used under a <a href="http://www.creativecommons.org">CC</a> license.

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Sarah Palin called the “birther” issue a “fair question” in an interview with right-wing radio host Rusty Humphries on Thursday. Via Ben Smith:

“Would you make the birth certificate an issue if you ran?” she was asked.

“I think the public rightfully is still making it an issue. I don’t have a problem with that. I don’t know if I would have to bother to make it an issue, because I think that members of the electorate still want answers,” she replied.

“Do you think it’s a fair question to be looking at?” Humphries persisted.

“I think it’s a fair question, just like I think past association and past voting records — all of that is fair game,” Palin said. “The McCain-Palin campaign didn’t do a good enough job in that area.”

Smith notes that the McCain campaign did look at the birth certificate issue, and, “like every other serious examination, dismissed it.” Perhaps the most interesting part of this story is Palin’s justification for going birther. She cited “the weird conspiracy theory freaky thing that people talk about that Trig isn’t my real son” as a similar situation. Or, in the words of Marc Ambinder: “Palin On Her Birtherism: It’s Andrew Sullivan’s Fault.”

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