Does donald trump stand a chance in 2012 without birtherism?

Donald Trump rode the Obama "birther" conspiracy to the top of Republican presidential polls, and then claimed he'd been instrumental in getting the president to release his

original birth certificate. But now that birtherism has been relegated (again) to the conservative fringe, has The Donald lost his one ticket to the GOP nomination? Or does the

self-proclaimed presidential prospect have another card up his sleeve? HE'LL FIND ANOTHER CONSPIRACY THEORY: Trump's already latched on to a "somewhat newfound interest in

getting the college records of the young Barack Obama," says David Weigel in _Slate_. And this "grades" obsession is catching on. But if that conspiracy theory fizzles,

perhaps due to its pretty obvious racism, there are plenty of other rabbit holes out there for Trump to jump down. And there are plenty of Republicans willing to follow him. "Trump and

'the Grades'" SUBSCRIBE TO THE WEEK Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives. SUBSCRIBE & SAVE SIGN UP FOR THE

WEEK'S FREE NEWSLETTERS From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox. From our morning news briefing to a

weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox. TRUMP'S FAME WILL CARRY HIM FAR: Trump obviously has the momentum in the GOP race, says Bryan

Preston in _Pajamas Media_. And he has some advantages that will keep that going for a while: He is on TV all the time, he doesn't have any difficult votes or policies to defend, and

he's no longer fazed by tabloid scandals. In fact, "Trump is living by the rule that all publicity is good publicity, and so far, it’s working for him." "Rasmussen: Trump

now leads the GOP presidential field" HE'S RIDING THE MAD-AS-HELL VOTE, FOR NOW: It's illustrative that Trump is winning the Tea Party vote, says Allahpundit in _Hot Air_.

They're "supposed to be ideological puritans but for the moment seem to prize confrontation above all else." Smacking Obama is Sarah Palin's niche, and sure enough

she's dropping as Trump is surging. But Republicans are starting to smack at Trump now, so maybe Palin will "reclaim it once his bubble inevitably pops." "GOP

frontrunner: Krauthammer's a 'sad fool'" IF HE CAN TOP ROMNEY, HE'S IN: Trump has already weakened the beatable Obama with the birther punch, says Patrick Roberts in

_Irish Central_. And let's face it, with the exception of Mitt Romney, his GOP rivals "are a sad lot." If Trump can pull an upset win over Romney in the New Hampshire

primary, his "incredible antenna for media attention" and messaging will take him to the nomination, and maybe the White House. "Trump can become president if he can defeat

Mitt Romney..."