These days, if you want to win the GOP nomination for any office, you need to appeal to the birther crowd. That's exactly what State Senator Owen Hill (R. CO) is doing:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/...
At the Denver County Republican Party’s First Friday Breakfast Nov. 1, Hill made the comment to laughter from the crowd:
“You spend time out there [in a Kenyan slum] and little kids are running around barefoot in these kinds of streets and you ask them what they want to be, they want to be an astronaut, they want to be a physicist, a marine biologist, one kid even told me he wanted to be President of the United States. I held back my snarky comment that said ‘Well, you know what, we already have someone from Kenya as President of the United States.’”
Hill was telling a story about his time working in the Nairobi slums as a top official with Compassion International, a Christian children’s charity. Audio of the remark was captured by a Democratic operative in the room and obtained by BuzzFeed. Hill did not immediately respond to an email and phone message left at his legislative offices Thursday. - BuzzFeed, 11/7/13
Here's a little more info on Hill:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/...
Hill, the chairman of the Colorado Senate Conservatives Fund, is one of a number of Republicans seeking the nomination for Udall's Senate seat.
Hill is not the only Republican lawmaker to make a crack about Obama's heritage. In October, North Carolina state Rep. Larry Pittman (R) joked that Obama is actually from and still loyal to Kenya.
Obama, of course, was born in the United States and has gone so far as to even present his longform birth certificate to quell fringe suspicion claims that he was born in another country. - TPM, 11/7/13
Hill needs to resort to these type of tasteless tactics and appeal to the lowest common denominator so he can secure his party's nominee in an already crowded primary:
http://www.mediaite.com/...
Hill is currently one of six candidates vying for the GOP nomination in the 2014 senatorial race. He faces a tough primary race against, among others, fellow State Sen. Randy Baumgardner, previous unsuccessful senate candidate Ken Buck, and potentially former Gov. Bill Owens. - Mediaite, 11/7/13
Hill of course thinks Democrats bashing him for cracking birther jokes is a sign that Democrats are afraid of him:
http://blogs.denverpost.com/...
Hill, a Air Force Academy graduate, was speaking about his time in Kenya when he did work for Compassion International. A Republican from Colorado Springs, Hill is among several Republicans vying to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Udall in 2014.
“The fact that my obvious joke is being highlighted today just shows how worried Mark Udall and the Democrats actually are of my campaign for the U.S. Senate here in Colorado,” Hill said in a statement Thursday. “These are the typical sleazy tactics used by Mark Udall’s radical operatives who are scared of losing their go to guy in Washington DC. Such dishonest antics show how desperate the Mark Udall machine is over losing its stranglehold on our economy, diverting folks from focusing on his inept Obamacare rollout.”
The birther remarks from Hill in regard to President Barack Obama’s citizenship have plagued dozens of Republicans nationally. In 2012, Republican Rep. Mike Coffman called Obama “un-American” when speaking to Elbert County Republicans. Coffman later apologized for his remarks. - Denver Post, 11/7/13
Yeah, ok Hill. You go ahead and think that. You might be able to appeal to the Tea Party nuts in the primary but I doubt you'll be able to appeal to regular voters in the general. But this is the kind of craziness we should be expecting next year. If you would like to donate or get involved with Senator Mark Udall's (D. CO) campaign, you can do so here:
http://www.markudall.com/