Release Of Long Form Birth Certificate Sends Birtherism Into The Political Fringe

President Obama’s decision to release his long-form birth certificate appears to have closed the case for all but the most paranoid Americans:

The number of Americans saying President Obama was born in another country has been sliced in half, according to a new Washington Post poll.

In interviews following the public release the president’s “long-form” birth certificate last week, fully 70 percent of Americans say Obama was born in Hawaii, a big bump-up from the 48 percent who said so a year ago. Even more say he was U.S.-born, or call that their best guess, for a total of 86 percent.

Overall, 10 percent of Americans say Obama was likely born abroad, down from 20 percent in an April 2010 Post-ABC poll. Almost all those who now say Obama was born in a foreign country say that it’s only their “suspicion;” just 1 percent claim “solid evidence” that the president was born elsewhere (9 percent said so last year).

The drop-off in the mistaken belief that Obama was not-U.S.-born has come most prominently among his sharpest critics. Today, 14 percent of Republicans say Obama was not born in the U.S., down from 31 percent in April of last year. Among the most conservative Republicans, the number of skeptics fell from 35 to 16 percent

So, that’s that I guess.

 

FILED UNDER: Public Opinion Polls, US Politics, , ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. john personna says:

    I’m afraid this may just be an example of the serial position effect in action.

  2. jwest says:

    Gee, it sure seems like the smart thing would have been to release it some years ago.

  3. Julian Sanchez says:

    Of course, it WAS released years ago, just in the short form Hawaii issues for, well, every single other purpose. I’m actually perplexed at why anyone cared about this long-form/short-form distinction. Why would anyone who continued to conspiracy-theorize after the release of one form have a different view after the release of a nearly-identical form with a smidgen more information?

  4. Davebo says:

    Birtherism was always in the political fringe.

    It’s just that a huge portion of the GOP are on the fringe these days.

  5. mantis says:

    Why would anyone who continued to conspiracy-theorize after the release of one form have a different view after the release of a nearly-identical form with a smidgen more information?

    Stupidity.

  6. michael reynolds says:

    We need in future polls to be able to identify imbeciles. Maybe they could ask screening questions to sort out the complete cretins. Then rather than just Democrat and Republican we could have the imbeciles as a separate category. There would be a lot of overlap with the GOP of course but it would still clarify things.

  7. Steve Verdon says:

    We need in future polls to be able to identify imbeciles. Maybe they could ask screening questions to sort out the complete cretins. Then rather than just Democrat and Republican we could have the imbeciles as a separate category. There would be a lot of overlap with the GOP of course but it would still clarify things.

    Recalling all the nonsense around the TANG records a few years ago, I think a more likely hypothesis is that the stupidity factor correlating with party affiliation will depend on the election cycle.

  8. anjin-san says:

    Perhaps. But in todays GOP, the fringe is a hell of a lot wider than the fairway…

  9. michael reynolds says:

    Recalling all the nonsense around the TANG records a few years ago, I think a more likely hypothesis is that the stupidity factor correlating with party affiliation will depend on the election cycle.

    That my friend is a PhD thesis in the making.

  10. Montana says:

    Our president had already showed his US passport to;

    1. Get a Passport; http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2008/03/20/obamas

    2. Become a US Senator;

    I feel sorry for all the little Birthers, It’s not their fault; it’s your families’ fault that taught you that you were better than other people based on race, creed ethnicity, color, nationality or sex, in short they engrained in you their hate (what a legacy).

    But you know at some point you need to grow up and act like an adult and think for yourself and distinguish what is true and what is BS.

    But there is where the little Birthers find yourself because we all know it was never about a birth certificate or grades, because we all know you want to go around wearing white sheets, burn crosses and hang people who are not like you, we know that your growth is stunted in your hate, and hate is what this is all about, you will never win anymore, and I feel sorry for all of you. I can only imagine when our President is re-elected what you phonies will lie about next. Oh, and just know, if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and sounds like a duck, it’s a duck, the little Birthers are a bunch of racists!

  11. Steve Verdon says:

    That my friend is a PhD thesis in the making.

    Yeah it would be a good thesis.