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Republicans need to show some backbone

By Scott Tibbs, May 5, 2011

President Obama finally released his full birth certificate last week, after notorious thief Donald Trump had been hounding him about it for several weeks.

Let me be clear. Donald Trump is a clown. He is not a serious candidate. I do not believe for one second that Trump is ideologically conservative, especially given his history of using government as a hired thug to steal other people's property. The Republican Party does not need to be nominating a faux conservative when there are a number of legitimate candidates available. I also think the "birther" stuff is nonsense.

So why is an egomaniac non-conservative getting so much support from Republicans?

The reason is simple: As nonsensical as the "birther" theories are, Trump has gone after Obama with no reservations. He is willing to take political hits in order to land a few himself. He has not backed down after all of the criticism. In short, Trump had demonstrated the backbone that Republicans wish our leaders in Congress had. Republicans are crying for a leader that will take it to Obama as aggressively as possible.

Look at what we have gotten from Republicans since they took over the House. While I recognize that the GOP's power is limited and I applaud the fact that the national discussion has shifted from how much more government we need to how much we should cut, the budget compromise was pathetic. Even if the $38 billion in "cuts" the GOP secured a few weeks ago was a genuine $38 billion (which it wasn't, and not by a long shot) it would still be pitiful. When you have a $1.7 trillion deficit, $38 billion in cuts is meaningless. We are talking about pennies.

Republicans should take notes from what has worked for Trump and stop acting like they are afraid of their own shadow. There are many legitimate issues we can exploit to attack Obama, starting with his reckless and irresponsible spending that threatens the future of this nation. Republicans ran roughshod over Democrats in 2010 because of an anti-Obama tide. As I have explained before, Obama-mania was never real.

I am amazed that so many Republicans think we cannot defeat Obama next year. The economy is in shambles, gas prices are headed toward $5.00 a gallon (if we're lucky) and this administration is spending us into oblivion. Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, Mitch Daniels, Herman Cain, Tim Pawlenty, Rick Santorum and Michele Bachmann could all defeat Obama and I would be more than happy to support any of them. I'm less than thrilled with Newt Gingrich and Mike Huckabee, but I would vote for either over Obama.

Barack Obama is easily the worst President of my lifetime, and arguably the worst President in the last 100 years. I cannot understand the mentality of Republicans who argue we cannot defeat him. How could we not defeat Obama? If I was the GOP nominee, I could defeat Obama next year. Why are we afraid of this guy? We need to emulate Trump's aggressiveness and take the fight to Obama.