About 25 similar highway signs erected in US.
By LEANNE TYO
Published: Saturday, August 7, 2010 6:10 AM EDT
“Where’s the birth certificate?”
A new billboard costing thousands of dollars and baring the question, part of a nationwide campaign questioning President Barack Obama’s eligibility to hold the nation’s leading office because of his birth certificate, was recently erected on Interstate 75 in Lake City.
The sign stands beside the northbound lanes of the interstate belonging to a WorldNetDaily.com campaign launched in May 2009.
Approximately 25 other billboards across the nation were erected for the campaign.
Joseph Farah, WND.com founder, editor and chief executive officer, said that while donations were solicited, his company paid for the majority of the Lake City billboard’s cost, a cost running in the thousands of dollars.
Gretchen Schade, WND.com media buyer, said that depending on factors such as size, visibility and installation, the billboards cost between $2,800 and $10,000.
“These boards are not cheap,” she stated.
WND.com began the campaign because the media has been “in virtual lockstep” on the issue of Obama presenting a birth certificate to prove he is “constitutionally eligible” for the presidential office as “‘a natural born citizen,’” Farah stated.
“I personally decided to go over the heads of the press with a campaign directed to the American people, asking the simple question, “Where’s the birth certificate?” Farah stated. “The answer to that question has become obvious to the public since. The answer is, ‘Nobody knows.’ Without a birth certificate, we cannot even begin to answer the questions surrounding Obama’s eligibility.”
Lake City became the new home of one of the campaign billboards to raise public awareness, Farah stated. He also stated there was an “added incentive” of Obama possibly seeing the sign when he recently traveled to state areas affected by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Farah stated he is unsure how long the Lake City sign will be up.
Lake City residents fall on both sides of the campaign’s argument.
Dan Wicklund of Lake City said his own Internet research has not yielded any “substantiated” Obama birth certificates and the Lake City billboard will draw attention to the issue.
“I find it amazing that the mainstream media has sort of dropped this whole issue,” Wicklund said.
Sharon Higgins of Lake City disagreed, saying the birth certificate issue is secondary to the country’s financial issues and debt.
“I just don’t know what good it really does,” she said. “A lot of people aren’t going to know what it’s talking about. I guess it’s freedom of speech, but I just kind of feel like it’s kind of a waste.”
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