California dentist and lawyer 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 a lengthy interview with The Daily Caller, Taitz expressed optimism about capturing the Republican nomination and defeating incumbent California 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 said campaign consultant Maurice Bonamigo contacted her to offer assistance. According to Taitz, Bonamigo said state party official Francisco Martinez had suggested he help. “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 with sending American jobs to countries that employ “de facto slave labor,” and says tariffs should be used to protect U.S. industry.
She also dislikes certain environmental policies, including the blocking-off of water resources in California’s 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, Taitz said, will help her win a Senate seat. She expressed displeasure that the Senate Judiciary Committee hasn’t investigated the matter.
Taitz also told TheDC 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.
That task force’s work has not yet concluded. Arpaio has suggested 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 [in Arizona] 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 for two years. She said 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 her interview with TheDC, Taitz read aloud a Social Security number she claimed Obama has used — a number she said was issued in the 1970s in Connecticut — suggesting that he had engaged in fraud.
The Republican presidential primary presents many good options, Taitz told TheDC, and she has not chosen whether to endorse Mitt Romney, Herman Cain or Rick Perry — all of whom she praised for their plans to create jobs.
Feinstein, she said, should be worried about her re-election chances.
“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.
