A TRUMPING WE WILL GO – AT 10:51 P.M. ET:  A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll shows Donald Trump second among Republican primary voters.

Now, is that just name recognition, or what?  I think it's more.  Trump, not known for his skills in international politics or governmental leadership, has clearly caught on with a segment of Republicans who may be looking for an alternative to the usual field of candidates.  Recall that Ross Perot had that same appeal in 1992.  The votes Perot received in the general election that year were critical to defeating incumbent President George H.W. Bush and electing Bill Clinton.

And there may well be something else.  Trump says things that other people think.  He has brought up the Obama birth-certificate issue, something not considered proper in respectable circles.  But many Americans, including those who assume the president was born in Hawaii when he says he was, still wonder why Mr. Obama won't release his long-form birth certificate, which contains detailed information.  Trump discusses this in a common-sense, guy-in-the-corner-bar way.  If someone doesn't release something, Trump says, he's probably hiding something.  And on this, Trump is right.

Trump claimed today that he has investigators working in Hawaii and that they have discovered disturbing things.  Now Trump can be blowing smoke.  He's good at that.  But he could be dead serious.  If he opens up this can of worms, and it turns out to be a can of worms, he can suddenly emerge as a political hero to the right.  In this, Trump may be tapping deep suspicions about Obama in at least a part of the electorate. 

And even though I'm not a "birther," I, too, have wondered why Obama doesn't release his birth certificate.  Maybe he should, for I can almost imagine Donald Trump holding a copy up in a televised news conference and announcing, "I have here in my hand..."

April 6, 2011