He begins by explaining himself and who pray tell he is. Beside being "one of the most accurate Las Vegas oddsmakers and prognosticators," Root is also a class of '83 Columbia University graduate (keep that on the back burner for now), and he says he smells "something rotten in Denmark."
Obama has a big skeleton in his closet. It’s his college records.
Root quickly reviews the Romney attacks and describes the classic Axelrod strategy of distraction that's enabled Barack Obama to win "several elections in his career by slandering his opponents and leaking sealed documents."
Not only do these insinuations and leaks ruin the credibility and reputation of Obama’s opponents, they keep them on the defensive and off Obama’s trail of sealed documents.
So, Mr. Root's advice to Romney: Call Obama's bluff.
Romney should call a press conference and issue a challenge in front of the nation. He should agree to release more of his tax returns, only if Obama unseals his college records. Simple and straight-forward. Mitt should ask “What could possibly be so embarrassing in your college records from 29 years ago that you are afraid to let America’s voters see? If it’s THAT bad, maybe it’s something the voters ought to see.” Suddenly the tables are turned. Now Obama is on the defensive.
Makes a lot of sense to me. I think Romney should take that advice. But Root doesn't stop there. The clincher is the astonishing accusations that arise from those sealed college records...
My bet is that Obama will never unseal his records because they contain information that could destroy his chances for re-election. Once this challenge is made public, my prediction is you’ll never hear about Mitt’s tax returns ever again.
Why are the college records, of a 51-year-old President of the United States, so important to keep secret? I think I know the answer.
If anyone should have questions about Obama’s record at Columbia University, it’s me. We both graduated (according to Obama) Columbia University, Class of ’83. We were both (according to Obama) Pre-Law and Political Science majors. And I thought I knew most everyone at Columbia. I certainly thought I’d heard of all of my fellow Political Science majors. But not Obama (or as he was known then- Barry Soetoro). I never met him. Never saw him. Never even heard of him. And none of the classmates that I knew at Columbia have ever met him, saw him, or heard of him.
But don’t take my word for it. The Wall Street Journal reported in 2008 that Fox News randomly called 400 of our Columbia classmates and never found one who had ever met Obama.
Huh, puzzling, right? Now after questioning whether his grades were up to par, and if so, wondering how he might have graduated from Occidental to Columbia and then onto Harvard Law School, Root drops his gut belief...
I can only think of one answer that would explain this mystery.
Here’s my gut belief: Obama got a leg up by being admitted to both Occidental and Columbia as a foreign exchange student. He was raised as a young boy in Indonesia. But did his mother ever change him back to a U.S. citizen? When he returned to live with his grandparents in Hawaii or as he neared college-age preparing to apply to schools, did he ever change his citizenship back? I’m betting not.
If you could unseal Obama’s Columbia University records I believe you’d find that:
A) He rarely ever attended class.
B) His grades were not those typical of what we understand it takes to get into Harvard Law School.
C) He attended Columbia as a foreign exchange student.
D) He paid little for either undergraduate college or Harvard Law School because of foreign aid and scholarships given to a poor foreign students like this kid Barry Soetoro from Indonesia.
Root tosses Harry Reid's charges right back at him...but with some actual ammunition this time...
If you think I’m “fishing” then prove me wrong. Open up your records Mr. President. What are you afraid of?
If it’s okay for U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to go on a fishing expedition about Romney’s taxes (even though he knows absolutely nothing about them nor will release his own), then I think I can do the same thing. But as Obama’s Columbia Class of ’83 classmate, at least I have more standing to make educated guesses.
It’s time for Mitt to go on the attack and call Obama’s bluff.
I know there will invaribly be the naysayers, tirelessly proclaiming 'birther' to Root's hypotheses, but just take a second gander at what he's asking the reader to consider in this piece. The man's not challenging Obama's birth certificate at all. He's simply pondering if there might be information within Obama's sealed college records that could affect the validity of the 44th President of the United States. I'd say we have a right to know, wouldn't you? I'd also say the burden of proof is laid directly upon Obama's lap...if the Romney camp accepts this advice.
ADDENDUM: Here's Rush's commentary on this story...
