They say there’s no such thing as a silly question - but sometimes it can be silly to answer one.
US President Barack Obama has finally put to rest to the allegations he wasn’t born in the United States (and would therefore be ineligible to be president) by releasing his long form birth certificate.
The conspiracy theories of the “birthers” have been dogging the political campaign for what seems like forever. Led by tycoon-turned-candidate Donald Trump they had finally reached a level where the president felt he had to respond.
That he did is a very bad thing for him. He calculates it was better than the issue carrying on, which could be right, but this is a bad outcome as well.
Obama did everything right in his speech; he branded the campaign by the lifers “silly” and a “sideshow” which distracted from the serious business of fixing a country which is in need of some serious fixing.
“We’ve got better stuff to do. I’ve got better stuff to do,” he said.
It was a good speech but him being there at all was a win for the Tea Party and a win for man who has now claimed credit.
Trump backed Obama into a corner by appealing to the more xenophobic parts of American society. Someone who has come from overseas and taken one of our jobs! The biggest job in fact.
Oh, the horror.
But Obama may have miscalculated in answering.
There is a reason people say “I’m not going to dignify that with a response”.
Obama can say it’s a sideshow. What the American people have seen is that when Trump called – Obama answered.
Obama can say it’s cheap, and Trump is being called a gimmick candidate, but who gets to make demands of a president and have them fulfilled? Who gets to sidetrack the country and then sidetrack its leader so much so he responds with a press conference?
An equal.
Or someone who is closer now to being an equal than he once was.
Here’s the point. Obama’s actions have elevated Trump.
Obama just gave Trump a little power in the public’s eyes. And lost a little of his own in the process.
Back home Australian campaign chiefs are aware debates can be damaging for a Prime Minister. The leader of the Opposition is able to engage the PM on issues; they are elevated to a status where what they say is legitimised. The public sees them, sometimes for the first time, as being prime ministerial.
In the last election it is widely acknowledged Tony Abbott came off second best in his televised leader’s debate with PM Julia Gillard.
But the next morning a Newspoll showed the Coalition had cut Labor’s lead in the polls from 10 to 4 points – a lot of the public saw him as more legitimate.
This is what Obama has done and Trump has left no room for doubt in the public’s mind that he was responsible.
“I’ve accomplished something that nobody else has been able to accomplish,” he said.
“I want to look at it, but I hope it’s true … We have to see is it real, is it proper.”
In his language he expressed approval. Who gets to approve of the president? Who would have the nerve to say: “Well done, thank you, I will get back to you and let you know if it’s good enough, but well done.”
You can say it’s silly. But the last time Trump said something “silly” the president himself answered.
Perhaps Trump will step aside and a more legitimate Republican candidate will emerge. But the public will remember that when called, their president answered.
Times are uncertain, people are still scared. People are still losing their jobs. They want power, certainty and someone who will make them believe everything is going to be okay.
Obama was once the change American people could believe in. I think people still want to believe in him. But he can’t just give them change anymore. He has to give them some reassurance and some certainty. Show he is powerful.
He must be the leader they want him to be - the sort that doesn’t stoop to answering “silly” questions.
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