# I smell the smelly smell of desperation: Obama not a citizen. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 15, 2008, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smell-the-smelly-smell-of-desperation-obama-not-a-citizen/468002 "2008-10-15T03:23:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smell-the-smelly-smell-of-desperation-obama-not-a-citizen/468002/181 "2008-11-15T21:55:44Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > LOL – it was Keyes who gave Obama his entry onto the national stage by running one of the most inept and pathetic campaigns I’ve ever seen. To be fair, that election was Obama’s to lose by the time Keyes got in on the action. Around here (my area, not the SDMB), the general consensus was that the Republicans brought Keyes in because Obama was going to win and they didn’t want a decent local Republican politician to be tarnished with a loss on their record. They needed a fall guy and Keyes seemed like a good enough carpetbagger to do it. That was my perception at the time, at least. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smell-the-smelly-smell-of-desperation-obama-not-a-citizen/468002/182 "2008-11-15T22:07:36Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Post 161. So the correct answer is that your source about allegations of the Gov of Hawaii sequestering the document is (a) not a primary source and (b) no longer available to produce as a cite? You can understand how some of the people here will see that response as “the dog ate my cite”. May I say, when I looked up the Keyes article, the banner ad on that page was about “flushing up to 15lbs of unwanted waste from your colon”, which sounds amazingly appropriate. Meanwhile: Has ANY president in reccent memory EVER been required to provide his original-issued birth certificate as part of his paperwork? Because if all that has been required (if it has been required at all) of everyone before is merely the abridged copies that states issue as a matter of course, then these lawyers badly need a fine for frivolous filings. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smell-the-smelly-smell-of-desperation-obama-not-a-citizen/468002/183 "2008-11-15T22:19:57Z")
> [@interface2x](#): > > To be fair, that election was Obama’s to lose by the time Keyes got in on the action. Around here (my area, not the SDMB), the general consensus was that the Republicans brought Keyes in because Obama was going to win and they didn’t want a decent local Republican politician to be tarnished with a loss on their record. They needed a fall guy and Keyes seemed like a good enough carpetbagger to do it. That was my perception at the time, at least. If that were the case, they should have thrown the unelectable Jim Oberweis to the wolves on that one and been done with him. The guy came in 2nd in the primaries and was practically jumping up & down and waving his arms with the IL GOP doing everything they could to whistle and avoid looking in his direction. Instead, he stayed around to stink up the House race for Hastert’s old seat and lose it for the Republicans by 14 points. Not that _I’m_ complaining about it, mind you. I think Oberweis should run in every race 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smell-the-smelly-smell-of-desperation-obama-not-a-citizen/468002/184 "2008-11-16T03:50:27Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Not that _I’m_ complaining about it, mind you. I think Oberweis should run in every race 😉 He’s 0-5 after last week’s drubbing by Bill Foster. Oberweis is the Chicago Cubs of politicians. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smell-the-smelly-smell-of-desperation-obama-not-a-citizen/468002/185 "2008-11-16T04:34:24Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > So the correct answer is that your source about allegations of the Gov of Hawaii sequestering the document is (a) not a primary source and (b) no longer available to produce as a cite? > > You can understand how some of the people here will see that response as “the dog ate my cite”. > > May I say, when I looked up the Keyes article, the banner ad on that page was about “flushing up to 15lbs of unwanted waste from your colon”, which sounds amazingly appropriate. > Meanwhile: Has ANY president in reccent memory EVER been required to provide his original-issued birth certificate as part of his paperwork? Because if all that has been required (if it has been required at all) of everyone before is merely the abridged copies that states issue as a matter of course, then these lawyers badly need a fine for frivolous filings. I’m not taking the position, Berg is. the only publication giving it exposure is [World.net](http://World.net) which is about the right speed for Berg and Keyes. This will efectively end any political aspirations for him (Keyes). ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smell-the-smelly-smell-of-desperation-obama-not-a-citizen/468002/186 "2008-11-16T22:50:22Z")
Either Oberweis or Keyes fit the two requirements the Illinois GOP had for filling in for Ryan: willing to run when there was no chance in hell he’d win and willing to pay for it. They weren’t going to throw good money against bad so the candidate had to pay for his own run. ---
**Author:** ![CBEscapee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@CBEscapee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBEscapee)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2008, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smell-the-smelly-smell-of-desperation-obama-not-a-citizen/468002/187 "2008-11-17T01:16:15Z")
If I understand correctly, Obama holds a US passport. To get a passport you must provide proof of citizenship. US passports are issued by the US State Department. Therefore they would have on file proof of Obama’s citizenship, whether he was born a citizen or became one at a later date. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smell-the-smelly-smell-of-desperation-obama-not-a-citizen/468002.md?page=9)