President Obama's disclosure of his long-form birth certificate should be the end of a ridiculous controversy. It won't be. And Democrats who think his announcement will do more damage to the Republican field than this delay has done to President Obama are sorely mistaken.
No matter what President Obama or his Democratic pundits say, this issue isn't over. Far from it. By failing to put this issue to rest when it first surfaced the administration has played into a dangerous narrative -- that the president isn't a "real American". He's something distant and "other." He's not one of us.
The problem is, once narratives like this take hold, they are incredibly hard to rewrite.
People have a well-researched tendency for confirmation bias. Having established a point of view, they will seek information, messages, and sources that support their existing biases -- veracity be damned. Even if this controversy goes away, more Americans are now open to claims against Obama's legitimacy. Donald Trump has already moved on to attacking the legitimacy of Obama's acceptances to Columbia and Harvard. Given his success with the birth certificate, why should he stop there? News editors and reporters love a story of their own making as much as a real one, which almost guarantees they'll keep pumping The Donald's diatribes into our homes until he shuts up.
Many pundits say the birther issue didn't deserve to be dignified with a response. Wrong. They called it a "sideshow." So what? These responses make a fatal assumption, namely political debate is rational. They assume that their idea of civility, logic, and fairness apply to our politics, despite daily evidence to the contrary.
In the real world -- the only one that matters -- these debates are highly, if not purely, emotional. And, to make matters worse, targets of these kinds of attacks are generally considered guilty until proven innocent. That means the ostrich strategy of head-in-sand then hope it goes away simply won't work.
We see this happen all the time in politics and in our work with corporate clients. People or organizations are attacked, and they find reasons not to take the issue seriously. Like the ostrich, they think or hope it will go away on its own.
As we've seen with the birthers, it doesn't.
Here are three lessons to remember from the birther issue and, hopefully, its resolution.
- Attack a negative narrative. In the beginning (after the Clintons dropped it), only the far-right fringe believed President Obama was foreign-born. Immediately prior to Obama's announcement, fully 43% of Americans were either unsure where he was born or think he wasn't born in America according to a New York Times/CBS poll on April 21, 2011. That number will come down somewhat thanks to this disclosure, but I have no doubt the number will stay higher than it was before this latest flare-up. This issue could have been put to bed definitively ages ago. The crazies have always asked for the original long-form birth certificate. President Obama should have neutralized this issue before it had the chance to do so much damage.
- Write the story. President Obama's press conference was a mess. The headlines were about Trump declaring victory or about the certificate's release. The only quote from the president making headlines is, "We don't have time for this silliness." Regardless of what anyone says, he hasn't closed the book on the story. He has, however, insulted the 48% of Independents and 19% of Democrats who are unsure where the president was born. What President Obama should have said was. "I am here to put this story to rest. I was born in the United States. I have my original birth certificate and my legal birth certificate and an army of officials and experts who will certify their validity. Any questions about my citizenship after this cannot be taken seriously." With this, the headlines would likely read, "Obama: I was born in the United States." This is a more compelling way to seed social media, and the news media, with a line and a story likely to change minds.
- Negotiate with Reputation Terrorists. Trump and the people who propagated the birther controversy are reputation terrorists - pure and simple. But unlike dealing with real terrorists, in these situations you must publicly engage the attacker. Their goal is to control the debate on an issue and frame it in terms you cannot possibly win. If you are too dignified to respond, they win. The only way to take them down is to take their issues seriously and use every asset you can to reveal them for the "silliness" they are.
Umno’s increasingly ultra-Malay stance as well as the emergence of a sex video aimed at discrediting Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) image are definite signs that general elections will be called very soon, says Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim
The PKR de facto leader believes that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will call for general elections before August this year. The Barisan Nasional (BN) controls the Dewan Rakyat with a simple majority.
“I would say anywhere before puasa (fasting month), before August. If not, immediately after fasting month,” Anwar told The Malaysian Insider in an exclusive interview recently.
Anwar said the timing of Barisan Nasional’s (BN) use of the mainstream media in highlighting a sex video allegedly featuring him was proof that national polls were not far off.
‘Look how they (BN) are managing the media, they look very desperate ...this is the final card.
“Can you imagine any country using porn as campaign material especially in a relatively conservative Muslim state...I have never seen this while I was in Umno,” Anwar told The Malaysian Insider.
An unedited sex video allegedly featuring Anwar was uploaded earlier today on YouTube, adding pressure on the opposition leader who has so far denied he is the man in the recording.
The video recording was divided into four parts and lasts approximately four minutes and 28 seconds.
The full 21-minute recording was first aired to reporters at the prestigious Carcosa Seri Negara hotel last month by a man who identified himself as “Datuk T”.
Shortly after the viewing, it was revealed that “Datuk T” was a moniker that collectively referred to businessman Datuk Shazryl Eskay Abdullah, former Malacca Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Rahim Thamby Chik and Perkasa treasurer-general Datuk Shuib Lazim.
During a March 24 press conference, Abdul Rahim said the video was exposed to show “a man who wants to be prime minister is not qualified.”
Besides that, Anwar also warned of Umno’s ultra-Malay stance as another sign that elections were, stressing that the Malay party was going through extreme lengths to get Malay votes.
“They have to resort to extreme racism...what else can they do?
“We don’t know what Najib believes in... Utusan speaks for 1 Melayu while NST for 1 Malaysia,” he said.
Most of the country’s mainstream media groups are controlled by Umno, MCA and MIC and they have begun running optimistic reports about the ruling federal coalition.
Umno owns and controls both the country’s largest media group, Media Prima Berhad (MPB) which owns English and Bahasa Malaysia newspapers, television and radio stations; and the Utusan Group, which publishes both Utusan Malaysia and the Kosmo tabloid. MCA now directly owns The Star and several radio stations and magazines while MIC owns the Tamil Nesan.
Utusan has urged the party to spearhead a “1 Melayu, 1 Bumi” movement to protect Malay unity.
Anwar: We don’t know what Najib believes in... Utusan speaks for 1 Melayu while NST for 1 Malaysia. — Picture by Choo Choy May
Malay rights group Perkasa said it will fly the banner for the movement and launch a 1 Bumiputera campaign this weekend.
Analysts have said the Umno paper’s increasingly strident, pro-Malay tone is a sign the ruling Barisan Nasional’s (BN) senior party has written off support from the Chinese community and is banking on Malay votes to win in the coming 13th general election.
When asked to comment on the relationship between him and Najib, Anwar claimed that Najib had “harboured enmity” against him once the murder scandal of Altantuya Shariibuu went public.
“He (Najib) harbours enmity because of the Altantuya case...He thought that I initiated (it), that which is not true.
“I only took it up when Altantuya’s father came to see me, he had pleaded me to help redeem the honour of Altantuya,” explained Anwar.
“I had reservations, this involved my friend the then deputy prime minister...I told the father- I think you must really be certain of what you want. He said he was certain, then I took it up,” he added.
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