Since you don't get to see the same facts on all the candidates, that requires you to be very informed with what you can be informed of. If a candidate refuses to make public their tax return...that is information. Intelligent, informed and involved voters know that information comes in many forms... The majority of the voters for Bush in 2004 didn't care what happened in those secret meetings between Cheney and the oil companies... Whose fault is that?
Do I think that the war was started for a profit? NO. Do I think the world is a little better and safer after it, YES. Do I think that some people made a lot of money from it, YES... it seems someone always does, and that doesn't make it right. How many times have people used government office to pursue or push a private agenda... I can point to people in office on both sides of the aisle, currently in office, doing just that. Another reason for term limits So if a Candidate refuses to release records that should mean something?
"So if a Candidate refuses to release records that should mean something?" Everything means something...it is up to the intelligent and informed voter to decide for themselves how important that something is... Term limits don't stop the problems, just as a new president doesn't stop the problem... The system is not broken, the voters are the problem...
I just read the judges order. He dismissed the case because the plaintiff was a retired air force officer who claimed he might be called up. The court said plaintiff failed to state a cause. That is a procedural dismissal. The court did not speak to whether Obama was a natural born citizen. Note - when someone was called up and made the same challenge the military revoked the order. therefore the case became "moot'. a similar situation. Not a decision on the merits. By the way - it seems Berg and the other attorney were not licensed to appear before that court - so why not call them agents provocateurs for filing such a procedurally weak suit.
This judge is a Clinton appointee known for bizarre rulings. Before going on the bench, he worked for the Lawyers' Committee on Civil Rights, a leftwing DC lawyers group. Among his rulings were one that the Library of Congress violated civil rights laws over a "transgendered" job applicant, that the Treasury violated civil rights laws because of the design of currency, that the military commissions in Guantanamo were a violation of the Geneva Conventions and of course, his tantrum over the Obama birth certificate case. He also resigned from the Foreign Intelligence Court in a snit over some issue. In short, he is the very embodiment of a leftwing judicial activist, one of the worst judges on the DC District Ccourt bench. He escapes media and professional critcism because he is a lifelong liberal activist and a former partner in a prominent DC firm.