POLL: 14% of Americans are "birthers" - mostly based on suspicion, 1/3 of them approve of Obama

[jefferson_dem]

Poll: Half of 'Birthers' Call it 'Suspicion'; A Third Approve of Obama Anyway
Obama's Birthplace Has Been Subject of Controversy Since Election
ANALYSIS by GARY LANGER
May 7, 2010

Fourteen percent of Americans say without prompting that they think Barack Obama was born in another country, rising to one in five when those with no opinion are offered that as a possibility. But for many it's not a firm belief  and some appear not to hold it against him.

Among those inclined to think Obama was born abroad, half also say that's their suspicion only, not a judgment based on solid evidence, the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll finds. And perhaps surprisingly, about a third of so-called "birthers" nonetheless approve of Obama's work in office and express a favorable opinion of him personally.

Still it's mostly Obama critics who suggest he was born abroad; two-thirds of those who express that view also disapprove of his work in office and view him unfavorably overall. That, along with other data, supports the notion that some of this view is an expression of antipathy toward Obama, rather than a firm belief he was born in another country.

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The other-country group includes 9 percent of Americans who said, in a follow-up question, that they think there's "been solid evidence" Obama was born in another country. The rest, 10 percent, called it their "suspicion only." (This could reflect a phenomenon in which some people may answer polling questions with something other than literal intent  rather, to express broader support for, or opposition to, an individual, group or policy.)

In addition to Obama disapprovers, people who are more apt than others to say Obama was born in another country include conservatives, Republicans, supporters of the Tea Party political movement (31 percent in each group), evangelical white Protestants (33 percent), and supporters of John McCain in 2008 (30 percent)  all groups broadly critical of Obama.

There's also an educational element, with people who haven't gone beyond high school nearly twice as apt as those with postgraduate degrees to suggest Obama was born abroad.

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http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=10576748

[Clio the Leo]

1. Isn't that a hoot? NT

[SemiCharmedQuark]

2. Well he's a Kenyan...but I love my tax credit.

[Drunken Irishman]

3. He might be a Kenyan born Marxist fascist...

But he's our Kenyan born Marxist fascist.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

4. Few people would know there was anything wrong with being born elsewhere

The requirement that a president be US born is trivia-question stuff.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if some staunch Obama supporters assume he was born in Africa. No crime being born in Africa.

Heck, John Kerry's wife was.