Surprised this hasn't been mentioned yet, but last night on Hardball, J.D. Hayworth threw a huge bone to the birthers by demanding that Obama show us his birth certificate.
Matthews asked Hayworth: "Are you as far right as the birthers?" Are you one of those who believes that the president should have to prove that he's a citizen of the United States, and not an illegal immigrant? Are you that far right?"
"Well, gosh, we all had to bring our birth certificate's to show we were who we said we were, and we were the age we said we were, to play football in youth sports," Hayworth responded matter of factly. "Shouldn't we know exactly that anyone who wants to run for public office is a natural born citizen of the United States, and is who they say they are?"
We all knew Hayworth was going to run well to McCain's right. Now we know just how far right. The only surprise is that it came this early--less than a week after Hayworth formally threw his hat into the ring.
Hayworth's made overtures to the birthers before. Earlier, he'd written a letter calling for Obama to go to Hawaii and get his birth certificate--and still stands by it.
"Should the governor of Hawaii produce evidence that the president is one of us, an American?" Matthews asked. "Do you think that's a worthy pastime for the governor of Hawaii right now?"
"No, I -- look. I'm just saying the president should come forward with the information, that's all," said Hayworth. "Why should we depend on the governor of Hawaii?"
To my knowledge, Hayworth is the second Senate candidate in this cycle to throw a bone to the birthers. Back in November, I mentioned that Marco Rubio hedged on whether Obama was born here.
Full segment here (h/t to TPM):
Link
Update: It's probably worth noting that the birthers would have to believe there's a conspiracy involving virtually the entire government of Hawaii in order to believe Obama wasn't born here.