He and his staff want to have their cake and eat it to. for political reasons, and because, personally, Trump disdains the thought of ever having to admit he's wrong.

Trump is a master manipulator and deceiver. He wants to be able to tell people he changed his stance on being a birther on his terms, not the media's. A bully hates to be bullied sort of thing. I think Mrs. Clinton and President Obama are making a mistake here. Now Trump can say he no longer believes Obama was born out of the country while simultaneously say HRC and the President arent talking about issues voters care about (jobs, healthcare, college, etc.) while he is.

Mrs. Clinton should forget Trump and be optimistic and lay out her plans for the nation each and every day. Let her subordinates and her superior air war trash Trump and she should remian above the fray. Everyone who gets into the dirt with Trump only gets dirty themselves. Be optimistic, hopeful, and a uniter and let Trump be the racist and divider. I feel she is making a mistake for now and needs to right the ship. The polling in Iowa, Colorado, Virginia and Michigan, along with Ohio and Florida, is terrifying and they need a quick course adjustment

There's an unusual amount of sound thinking and insight on this thread. Can't let that happen without me interjecting a bit of irrational nonsense! Lol

First of all, I have to agree with Matt that Trump can't bear to admit he was wrong. That's also a sort of Andrew Carnegie type rule for being successful in political and sales pursuits. This is amplified by the personality disorder that many say Trump displays. So it doesn't look very good when he has to retract anything.

Bigguy30 puts forth the view that this reversal will hurt him voter-wise, and if his cult base were not so completely smitten with him and so very, very unhappy with their lives, it might work that way. Though I don't think many of them are going to see the light and make a last-minute decision to vote for Clinton, it MIGHT deflate their enthusiasm enough that some of them will just stay home and drink beer on election night.

BuffetBoy sees Trump's gambit here, and his suggestion that Clinton keeps above the fray, stick to laying out her proposed policies both domestic and international seems very wise. The attack on Trump could be more effectively fought by Biden, Sanders, Bill Clinton and President Obama. In truth, a Trump coronation would be disastrous for our country, for the world, but when that is stated by his opponent directly, it seems less an urgent appeal to citizens to prevent such an atrocity and more a political rant.

As for me, I think Trump should have his nose rubbed in it. What if everyone just ignored Trump's retraction and continued to hammer the absurdity of the birthers and ridicule Trump for holding that position? Trump might be forced into a corner where he has to repeat louder and louder that he no longer believes that crap, maybe even admit that he never did actually believe it himself. This would reveal his whole game of appealing to the very worst aspects of human complexity.

I'm waiting for the birthers who frequent this board to rush in and explain to us how even if Obama was born in the United States, that it's still wrong for him to be president because he allowed the "appearance on impropriety" by being of Kenyan ancestry and as such it was "only natural" for them to question his eligibility.

I missed your morning clip (no link) but the one I saw today where Trump said President Obama was born in the U.S. indicates Trump won this round.

Do Clinton supporters not remember that it was her supporters or campaign that started the whole birther movement? Yes, it was not her saying it directly but when she was given the opportunity on 60 Minutes to confirm Obama's not a Muslim she could not help but add, in classic Clinton-speak, "as far as I know".

She played this card far too soon if she should have played it at all, but that's the indication she's desperate. Trump defused it today. His supporters don't care that he "admitted it" but now it's difficult for Clinton to bring it up again