Try as they will, my Republican friends cannot seem to shake themselves loose from the “birther” nonsense that dogged President Obama during his first term and disappeared the moment he was re-elected in November 2012.

Why do they want to get rid of this issue? Because one of their own is facing some of the same questions that hounded President Obama.

The Texas Tribune is reporting that Canada native Ted Cruz, the junior U.S. Republican senator from Texas, is fielding questions about his own eligibility to run for president — were he to decide to make the race in 2016. Cruz has been staging meetings back home in Texas during the congressional recess.

Cruz says — and his GOP faithful agree — that even though he isn’t a “natural born” U.S. citizen, he would qualify because his mother is an American. Thus, he is qualified automatically because of his parentage.

http://www.texastribune.org/2013/08/23/cruzs-supporters-dont-question-eligibility/

That’s good enough for those who want him to run.

But given that political memories at times can be everlasting, it’s not necessarily good enough for those on the left who remember the torment their guy endured during his first presidential term.

Let me add that there is an important difference between Barack Obama and Ted Cruz: Obama actually was born in the United States of America; Cruz was born north of our border. Obama produced a birth certificate that proved his place of birth, while Cruz also has produced a document that shows he was born in Canada to an American mother and a Cuban father.

Obama’s birth certificate hasn’t been accepted fully by every American with an interest in government. Some right-wing nut cases with loud voices (e.g., “The Donald” Trump) still question the document’s authenticity. No sense arguing with them about that.

Personally, I accept the notion that Cruz is eligible to run. I welcome his candidacy. I am on the verge of begging him to run for the presidency in ’16. I don’t want him to become the 45th president of the United States, but he would be bring some serious sizzle to a campaign that’s already shaping up to be a barn-burner.

Cruz would have to battle the lingering birther baloney. Maybe he can ask the 44th president for some tips on how to survive the onslaught.