‘Birther’ champion Orly Taitz seeks GOP Senate nomination to challenge Feinstein
Orly Taitz, best known as a leading proponent of conspiracy theories about President Barack Obama’s birth, is running as a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in California.
In a lengthy interview with The Daily Caller, Taitz expressed optimism about capturing the Republican nomination and defeating incumbent Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein in 2012.
“It’s time for new ideas, new blood, new energy,” Taitz told TheDC. “I’m very confident that I’ll be able to get the Republican nomination and I will be able to win the general election.”
“I’m best known of the candidates who have announced that they are running,” she observed.
Taitz told TheDC that campaign consultant Maurice Bonamigo contacted her to offer assistance. According to Taitz, Bonamigo informed her that state party official Francisco Martinez recommended that he assist her. “He told me I have a very high chance of facing Dianne Feinstein in the general election,” Taitz recalled.
Her campaign is, perhaps surprisingly, almost entirely focused on economic issues. Taitz credits the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with prompting American jobs to go to countries that employ “de facto slave labor” and says that tariffs should be used to protect American industries.
She also dislikes certain environmental policies, including blocking off water in San Joaquin Valley. And she would like to see generous tax credits for companies who bring jobs back from overseas.
The controversy surrounding Obama’s birth certificate, she said, will help her win the Senate election. She expressed displeasure that the Senate Judiciary Committee hasn’t investigated the matter.
Taitz also told TheDC about her latest news about Obama’s birth certificate, suggesting that a cold case posse charged by Arizona’s Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio with reviewing documents about the birth certificate may result in a criminal investigation.
The posse’s work has not yet concluded. Last week, Taitz visited Arpaio in Arizona. Arpaio has suggested that there will be a “shock” when the posse’s investigation is complete. He told the Phoenix New Times on Monday that he is particularly interested in whether a microfilm version of the birth certificate exists.
“It is my understanding that their recommendations are not to allow Barack Obama on the ballot until there is verification of his vital records,” she said, “because of clear evidence of forgery in his birth certificate and evidence of fraud with his Social Security number.” Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed a bill in April that would have required proof of citizenship for presidential candidates to appear on the state’s ballots.
Taitz also alleged that Obama only attended Columbia University for nine months, rather than two years. She said that Obama must account for the missing year. “Why isn’t he telling the truth?” she wants to know. “There are so many questions about his past.”
During the interview, Taitz read aloud a Social Security number she says Obama has used — a number she said was issued in the 1970s in Connecticut — suggesting that he had engaged in fraud. Taitz, however, stopped short of describing Obama as an illegal immigrant.
The Republican presidential primary has many good choices, Taitz told TheDC, and she has not chosen whether to endorse Mitt Romney, Herman Cain or Rick Perry — all of which she praised for their plans to create jobs.
Feinstein, she said, should be worried about her candidacy. “During her 20 years in the Senate she has become very wealthy,” Taitz noted. “So people are saying she’s invincible because she has so much money, but last time people thought that about Meg Whitman … I think the citizens of the state of California are getting more wise.”
“She’s a nice lady and I do not have any personal animosity,” Taitz added, but the election “will be about a change that is needed.”
The California Republican Party did not respond to TheDC’s request for comment.
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