Steve Pearce, a candidate for Congress in New Mexico, says he wouldn't mind being "in the fight" over the issue of Barack Obama's eligibility

By Bob Unruh
© 2010 WorldNetDaily

U.S. President Barack Obama pauses while speaking about the economy in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington July 19, 2010. REUTERS/Larry Downing (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS)

Steve Pearce, a candidate for Congress in New Mexico, says he wouldn't mind being "in the fight" over the issue of Barack Obama's eligibility to be president.

The candidate made the comment in response to a question from a constituent at a public campaign stop, and it is being publicized by Heath Haussamen at the NMPolitics website.

Haussamen used the opportunity to warn that Obama is eligible, is president and a candidate that suggests there still could be unanswered questions would "empower those on the extreme, fringe right who may be willing to resort to violence."

The Haussamen commentary said the comments came at a Sept. 30 meeting in Los Lunas.

A video that was posted on the Huffington Post website reveals a woman asking Pearce for his position on whether Obama is eligible, since an ineligible president would create all sorts of questions about the legitimacy of his actions in office.

Pearce said Obama raised the "most significant questions himself" by talking about his travels to Pakistan as a youth, at a time when travel there by U.S. residents was not easy.

He then tries to focus the discussion on the nation's economy, noting that a member of Congress can only fight so many battles in a year, and he believes the economy is paramount.

But he also confirmed, according to the video, that should the issue arise formally, "I don't mind being in the fight. … I don't have a problem expressing my opinion or expressing a vote."

The Post noted that Pearce was wrong when he said Obama couldn't have traveled to Pakistan because of a ban on travel during that time period. But Haussamen wrote, "Obama is a citizen. This is a question that has been asked and answered. Politifact.com is among the news organizations that looked into the situation. It obtained a copy of Obama's Hawaii birth certificate and verified with the Hawaii Department of Health that the birth certificate is valid."

Actually, the computer-image "Certification of Live Birth" that was posted online during the Obama campaign during 2008 is a document that under state rules can be granted to those who were not even born in Hawaii, as Obama claims.

And the Hawaii Department of Health never has released an original long-form document that would include standard details about Obama's birth such as a hospital and a physician – or midwife.

Haussamen warned against candidates making such statements.

"The words of political leaders like Pearce have the potential to set off those crazies. Politicians must be aware of that reality and approach it cautiously, or they risk playing a role in the incitement of violence," he warned



WND has reported on multiple legal challenges to Obama over his status as a "natural born citizen." The Constitution, Article 2, Section 1, states, "No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President."

Some of the lawsuits question whether Obama was actually born in Hawaii, as he insists. If he was born out of the country, Obama's American mother, the suits contend, was too young at the time of his birth to confer American citizenship to her son under the law at the time.

Other challenges have focused on Obama's citizenship through his father, a Kenyan subject to the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom at the time of his birth, thus making him a dual citizen. The cases contend the framers of the Constitution excluded dual citizens from qualifying as natural born.

Further, others question his citizenship by virtue of his attendance in Indonesian schools during his childhood and question on what passport did he travel to Pakistan three decades ago.

Adding fuel to the fire is Obama's persistent refusal to release documents that could provide answers and his appointment of lawyers to defend against all requests for his documentation.

Pearce is just the latest in a long line of widely respected public officials to say there at least are questions for which the American public needs answers:

Arizona state House candidate Cecil Ash

During a meeting for state House candidates with editors and others at the Arizona Republic, House District 18 Democrat candidate Michael Conway blasted GOP incumbent Cecil Ash for signing onto a plan that would require future presidential candidates to verify their eligibility.

The newspaper reported Conway questioned why Ash would support such a plan, and Ash responded that states don't verify the eligibility of presidential candidates, and he thinks it should happen in the future.

He explained to the newspaper that it hasn't been an issue before, because people know the parentage and heritage of Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and others.

"That's not the case with President Obama," he said.

He cited a New York Times poll revealing that 1 in 5 Americans believe Obama foreign-born and another nearly 1 in 4 have doubts.

Conway then pointed to the "Certification of Live Birth" that the Obama campaign posted online during his 2008 race, the newspaper said.

"And you don't think you as a leader had the opportunity to let people know the truth? The electronic copy of the birth certificate had been released. It had been on the Internet. It had been on multiple news networks," Conway claimed.

But Ash pointed out that the online document is not the same as a "birth certificate," and the document posted by Obama could have been obtained under Hawaii law without proof of a birth in the state.

"That is the only copy there is, sir," Conway said, according to the newspaper. "You know this."

Then he accused Ash of being racist.

"The fact of the matter is, if he was white you wouldn't have put the issue forward," the newspaper reported he charged.

Ash said race has nothing to do with GOP opposition to Obama.

Among the other comments that have been reported:


Rocky Raczkowski

Michigan congressional candidate Andrew Raczkowksi

Just one day after a poll by CNN included the startling revelation that 6 of 10 Americans doubt President Obama's birth story, Andrew "Rocky" Raczkowski, who won a Michigan GOP primary for Congress over establishment candidate Paul Welday, said he had concerns, too.

According to a report in Politico, he is on tape telling a meeting of supporters in Novi, Mich., "You have a president that seems to be, um ... well ... I don't know if he even has been born in the United States, but ... until I see a birth certificate."

Raczkowski doesn't care that his words are on tape, reportedly being circulated by Democrats in an attempt to damage his campaign.

"They don't need an HD recorder – they can call me. I'm very open, they can call me; we can have an open discussion, perhaps even a debate," he told the publication.

Anthony Tolda

A candidate for Congress in New York's Second District, a seat now held by Democrat Steve Israel, says there is a "usurper" in the Oval Office and impeachment isn't the solution since "that would imply that he held the seat in a valid manner in the first place."

The comments by Constitution Party candidate Anthony Tolda were reported on a blog calling on Obama to release his records.

"For our Constitution to continue to exist much longer Barack Hussein Obama aka Barry Soetoro must be removed from office," the candidate's statement said. "I would not seek to impeach him, as that would imply that he held the seat in a valid manner in the first place."

Tolda's speech was captured in two segments on video:

In it, he references the "usurper" in the office of the president.

But the blog expands on that, noting that Tolda was asked specifically about Obama's eligibility to be president.

The candidate responded, "There is a process to remove seat holders that are not able to legally hold a seat. Until now the highest seat that was removed from the holder in this manner is a seat(s) in the U.S. Senate.

"I will seek to begin this process as soon as I am sworn in. Although I do not intend to pursue an impeachment, I would assist in any efforts started by others in office to impeach. Only so long as I can verify that it would not nullify my plans for the annulment-type removal that has been used on senators unfit to legally hold office in the past," he said.

Indiana congressional candidate Marvin Scott

Indiana congressional candidate Marvin Scott was responding to call-in questions from campaign supporters when he was confronted with a question about his position on the eligibility issue:

Scott, who is challenging Democrat incumbent Andre Carson, said, "Certainly, we have a right to know as citizens of this country. And that particular question has to be vetted over and over again to assure the public that the people who are representing us are fair and have ascended to that particular position because they have met all of the requirements, and therefore they are entitled to by a vote of the populace to be there."

Scott has been a professor of sociology at Butler University for nearly 20 years and for nine years was president of a management-consulting firm.

He's served as a consultant to public schools, colleges, universities and federal courts. His website explains he's running for the House of Representatives because Republicans have a "long and rich history with basic principles: Individuals, not government, can make the best decisions; all people are entitled to equal rights; and decisions are best made close to home."

Sen. David Vitter, R-La.

Louisiana's Vitter says the dispute over Barack Obama's eligibility to be president should be resolved in court.

"I support conservative legal organizations and others who would bring that to court," Vitter said, according to an Associated Press report citing a video of the event.

It's also significant that the AP reported on Vitter's comments. The news wire has stated the president's "birth certificate" has been made public even though the image of the document posted online actually is a "certification of live birth," which was available to those not born in Hawaii.

Want to help find out the real answers? Join others in supporting the national billboard campaign that asks the simple question, "Where's the birth certificate?"

Vitter was responding to a constituent at a town-hall meeting in Metairie, La., who asked about Obama's "refusal to produce" a birth certificate.

The AP reported the crowd applauded the question.

Vitter said he didn't have personal "standing" for litigation. But he said he supports the efforts to bring the question to court.

"I think that is the valid and most possibly effective grounds to do it," he said.

He said "first and foremost" Americans need to "fight the Obama agenda at the ballot box starting this fall."

Vitter said, according to the AP report, that the matters of the nation are too important to be diverted by distractions.

U.S. Rep. Steve King

U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, appears to have suggested he's not entirely satisfied that all the questions about President Obama's eligibility have been answered fully.

The issue came up as he talked about the national debt in a recent address in Congress, televised by C-SPAN and posted on YouTube:

The congressman referred to the estimated $44,000 that each child born in the United States owes at the moment of birth as his or her part of the federal debt.

"We worry about them carrying a student-loan debt … maybe $40,000 in student loans," he said. "We'll, I'd be happy to take that $40,000 loan and a guarantee of a college degree and think that child could pay that off."

But for the $44,000 in federal debt obligations, all the individual gets is access to citizenship in the United States of America, he said.

"Little baby with ink on their foot, stamped right there on the birth certificate – there's one in this country we haven't seen," he said. "But the footprints on those we have seen. Those little babies owe Uncle Sam $44,000."

U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis, R-S.C.

Rep. Bob Inglis, R-S.C., said Obama was born "not in Hawaii." He gave the answer during a tongue-in-cheek "interview" on the satirical Colbert Nation show.
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Inglis was being grilled about whether he was a conservative.

"Are you conservative enough for the 4th District?" Stephen Colbert asked.

"I sure hope so," Inglis responded.

Inglis noted he had been endorsed by the National Rifle Association and the Christian Coalition.

Then Colbert said, "Complete this sentence. 'Barack Obama was born in ...'"

"Oh," said Inglis, "Not Hawaii."

Champaign, Ill., mayor Gerald Schweighart

A few weeks earlier, the mayor of Champaign, Ill., Gerald Schweighart, said Obama should produce his birth certificate.

The mayor was asked about Obama and responded he doesn't think he's "American."

"If you are not willing to produce an original birth certificate, then you've got something to hide," he said. "If he doesn't have something to hide, produce it."

Others raising questions are Tennessee state Senate speaker Ron Ramsey, Hawaii state Sen. Will Espero, Oklahoma state Rep. Mike Ritze, U.S. Rep. Bill Posey, R-Fla., and many others with similar questions.

Ramsey said, "I don't know whether President Obama is a citizen of the United States or not. I don't know what the whole deal is there."

But Ramsey also said he doesn't believe citizens are concerned about Obama's citizenship status.

"But I'm going to tell you something," he said. "When you walk out on the street down here, people don't really care about this issue."

There also have been efforts to raise the question of Obama's eligibility at the state and national levels. Several state legislatures are working on proposals that would require presidential candidates to submit proof of their eligibility. Among the states where election qualification or eligibility requirements are being considered or developed include Oklahoma, Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Virginia and New York.

Hawaii state Sen. Will Espero

Hawaii state Sen. Will Espero, a Dem