HAYWORTH'S NON-DISAVOWAL DISAVOWAL

A headline at Talking Points Memo right now is "Hayworth Disavows Birtherism: I Believe Obama Was Born In Hawaii." If you read the piece, you'd conclude that J.D. Hayworth, who's challenging John McCain in the GOP Senate primary in Arizona, has actually changed his tune on birtherism:

Former Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ), who is challenging Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) in the Republican primary, appeared on The O'Reilly Factor on Friday, and disavowed ever having any belief in the Birther movement, after the McCain campaign attacked him for his prior Birther-friendly statements.

"Hey Bill, I view this entire debate as esoteric. It's as esoteric as arguing about the eligibility of Chester Alan Arthur well over a century after he served as president," said Hayworth, referring to the 19th-century president whose detractors would spread rumors that he was born in Canada. "Look, Barack Obama's the 44th president of the United States. His election was certified. I believe he was born in Hawaii. I made certain statements on the air to -- to provoke conversation. That's what happens in broadcasting."

But Hayworth isn't contradicting his last statement on this issue, which is that Obama is a legitimate president (in Hayworth's opinion), yet it would still be a good idea for him to show his birth certificate:

During a Monday evening interview on CNN (watch it here), Hayworth pointed to the case of fugitive Vietnam War protester Howard Mechanic, who in 2000 sought a seat on the Scottsdale City Council using the alias "Gary Tredway." After he was exposed, Mechanic eventually received a pardon from President Bill Clinton.

"All I'm saying is, for every race across the country, especially with identity theft in the news, it would be great that people can confirm who they say they are," Hayworth said.

"Identity theft? I mean, come on," an incredulous CNN host Campbell Brown said, laughing. "Is that honestly what this is about?"

Brown pressed Hayworth as to whether he was "comfortable with the fact that (Obama is) an American citizen." ...

"Barack Obama is the president of the United States. He is our 44th president," Hayworth told Brown. "I have no qualms about who he is, or who he says he is."

If you check the transcript, Hayworth even used the word "esoteric" in that interview:

I know who he is in terms of policy, in terms of reckless spending that will drive up hyperinflation, in terms of a so-called stimulus that led to incredible unemployment, and in terms to a guarantee of higher taxes on the American people and debt that is going to choke off generations yet to come.

That's the Barack Obama that concerns me, not some esoteric argument about birth certificates and eligibility.

So in that interview he was trying to continue sending out birther dog whistles while seeming to disavow birtherism, just to maintain his legitimacy in both the crazy and less-crazy GOP camps. It added up to a sort of birtherism lite -- I think Obama is legit, but shouldn't we see more documents, just to be safe?

That didn't quite work for him, so, with O'Reilly, he dropped the dog whistle. And TPM was fooled ... as, I suspect, most of the mainstream media will be -- even though he hasn't changed his tune at all.

A tough interviewer -- there probably isn't one in the national media, but maybe there's one in the Arizona press -- would pin him down now by asking him: All right, you acknowledge that Barack Obama is legitimately the president. Are you no longer your calling for him to produce his birth certificate? Has he produced every document he needs to produce to put this question to rest? Is there any legitimate reason for people to continue questioning his eligibility?

That's what I want to hear. I want him to be compelled to answer "Yes" or "No."

I'm sorry it'll never happen. I'm sorry that, if he wins this primary, he'll be deemed to be within the pale and not a conspiracy nut. He still hasn't truly renounced birtherism. Not yet.