Another Brilliant Political Move by Obama?

President Obama has already been influencing the 2012 Republican field in creative ways. He has praised both Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman--arguably his two strongest competitors in the general election--so that their conservative opponents in the Republican primaries can attack them for being liked by Obama. Obama's praise could come back to hurt him in a general election fight, but Obama thinks that by praising Romney and Huntsman he will hurt them with the political right, and they will not be able to win the Republican nomination.

Today Obama made what is probably another brilliant political move aimed at influencing the Republican field. Obama finally released his long form birth certificate today. The administration claimed that there were more important issues to focus on, and they wanted the issue to go away. However, over the past several weeks Donald Trump has made Obama's birth certificate his issue and has demanded that the White House release it. Now that the White House has released it, Trump can claim victory. Obama's birth certificate was only a serious issue for the far right of the Republican Party; however, these voters are very likely to participate in Republican primaries. Trump will likely become even more popular among the far right because he was the one who finally "forced" Obama to release his birth certificate. This new higher popularity may make Trump more likely to run.

The Obama reelection team would love for Trump to run. Trump has so many issues and has such a tendency to say stupid things that Obama would love to run against him in the general election because it would be a landslide. By releasing his birth certificate after Trump "demanded" it, Obama not only helps to end conversations about whether he was born in the United States but also makes it more likely that Trump will run for President.