'Birther' Poll Shows That More Than A Quarter Of Americans Think Obama Was Not Born In The U.S.

A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll timed for release during President Obama's birthweek shows that more than a quarter of people don't believe Obama was born in the United States.

According to the poll, 11 percent of respondents said they believed that the President was "definitely not" born in the United States, while 16 percent said that Obama was "probably not" born in the country.

Meanwhile, 29 percent responded that the President was "probably" born in the U.S. and 42 percent of those surveyed said they "have absolutely no doubts" about Obama's American birthplace.

From CNN's report:

"Not surprisingly, there are big partisan differences, although a majority of Republicans thinks Obama was definitely or probably born here," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "Eighty-five percent of Democrats say that Obama was definitely or probably born in the U.S., compared to 68 percent of independents and 57 percent of Republicans. Twenty-seven percent of Republicans say he was probably not born here, and another 14 percent of Republicans say he was definitely not born in the U.S."

According to CNN's poll then, 41 percent of Republicans believe that the 44th President of the United States was not born in the country that he currently leads.

On Tuesday, conservative commander and radio host Rush Limbaugh delivered a dose of birtherism on his program, saying, "Tomorrow is Obama's birthday, not that we've seen any proof of that... What? We haven't seen any proof of that! They tell us August 4th is the birthday; we haven't seen any proof of that! Sorry. It is what it is."

The CNN poll was conducted between July 16-21 and surveyed 1,018 adult Americans. The overall sampling error is plus or minus three percentage points.

Comments

[Rainbo Culpepper]

10:26 PM on 08/11/2010

ROFL. This is too funny. Chris Matthews was a birther in 2007. On Hardball on Dec. 18, he said Obama was born in Indonesia, and used it as a plus for Obama's candidacy. lol

"He is a Christian. Both he and his family are Christians. They have
chosen Christianity. But that connection to Indonesia and a billion
Muslims on this Earth, I think, is a real strength, and add an awful—a
lot of value in his foreign policy efforts."

"But didn‘t Hillary dump on Obama a few days ago for playing up his
Indonesian roots? So, what is she up to here? Is she pushing how great
he is for having been born in Indonesia, or what, or simply reminding
everybody about his background, his Islamic background?"

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22326842/

[David VeLar]

09:31 AM on 08/07/2010

Here's a question for the Birthers:

Where is the plane ticket?

It's absurd to think that Obama's mother went to Kenya to have the baby there in the first place. And there is no evidence that she went there. No plane ticket, no correspondence, no nothing.

[Deleberis]

11:47 PM on 08/06/2010

HE HAS PROVED IT!!! what do these guys want from the man?

[David VeLar]

09:30 AM on 08/07/2010

They want him to magically be from Kenya so he can step down.

[Giverny]

11:23 AM on 08/11/2010

It is a veiled racial issue. They will not say what they are thinking, they have to be divisive. I am delighted with his background and heritage. It validates the American adage that a child can be anything they want. All of our children will believe it now. Bravo, Mr. President!

[lgillooly]

04:36 PM on 08/06/2010

Odd, If the media is so liberal, how could this be?

[nana-anne]

11:47 AM on 08/06/2010

Explain please, the difference between a "Birth Certificate" containing the official state seal and a "Certificate of Live Birth" containing the official state seal.

[iconoclast6]

11:49 AM on 08/06/2010

There isn't one. No difference at all. But tell that to these PHOCKS-obsessed nutburgers. These are the same people who think they don't have to abide by a court's decision because the flag in the courtroom has a gold fringey thing on it.

[Cheryl2]

11:34 AM on 08/06/2010

Looking at a bell curve of IQs that would be about right for all those 1.5 to 2 standard deviations below the mean.

[Cacey]

11:23 AM on 08/06/2010

This really is no big surprise nor a big deal. A survey of kids graduating from High School in Oklahoma earlier this year showed that 24% didn't know that Washington was the Father of the Country. Other polls have shown equally apalling statistics related to what Americans don't know and what they believe to be true. I'm amazed at how many mainlanders have no idea that Hawaii is one of the fifty states as evidenced by something that happened to a friend of mine a couple of weeks.
We live in a West Coast beach town frequented by tourists. She works in a restaurant there greeting customers. I should add that she is a dark haired Anglo with no trace of an accent. Well, some Southern visitors asked where she was from and she replied that she is from Hawaii. The woman replied commenting on how good here English was and asking how long she'd been in the United States.

[iconoclast6]

11:46 AM on 08/06/2010

Unfortunately, I'm not surprised in the least. The schools no longer teach civics because it's "liberally biased." We don't teach social science because it's "not practical." Mark my words, if things go on as they are, education will be completely replaced by job training and Ιdiocracy will be a reality.

But then, that's what the elite in the G∅BP want for us.

[Giverny]

11:25 AM on 08/11/2010

You should see the new textbooks from Texas that set the national standard. FRIGHTENING!!!

[suz1941]

11:23 AM on 08/06/2010

Yes, you birthers, this started as a left wing conspiracy in 1961, We had all preordained Obama to be the president in 2008. That's why we "planted" his birth announcement in the local newspaper. Of course we all know how hospitals and newspapers conspire about such things.

But, hey, if you really want to talk about strange births, start cleaning your own house first. Anybody seen Trig lately? Has anybody ever seen a birth certificate? Stuff of the National Enquirer you say? Maybe, maybe not. Can anyone say John Edwards?

If I'm wrong than I'll apologize. Birthers ought to think about doing the same. Distractions....that's all the Repuclican Birthers have. Never mind the facts.

[Kenyatta J Yamel]

11:18 AM on 08/06/2010

More than 1 in 4 Americans lack brains.

[FALCON72]

10:56 AM on 08/06/2010

I agree with Chris Matthews' take on this poll; that most of the people who SAY they don't believe Obama was born in the U.S. really do believe he was, but they say otherwise just to get their dig in.

[Giverny]

11:27 AM on 08/11/2010

A person I know insisted she knew he wasn't an American because he was born in Hawaii. (apparently Hawaii is not one of our states?) I mean, really, c'mon people, that's third grade civics.

[brklynivn]

10:47 AM on 08/06/2010

Not only is there a growing income disparity, but an intelligence one also.

[nothingchanges]

10:45 AM on 08/06/2010

'"Birther' Poll Shows That More Than A Quarter Of Americans Think Obama Was Not Born In The U.S."

There are days when I love HP headlines. The first thought that came to mind when I read this one was "this is news?".

The second thought was............if they had left off the first word, and the last 8 words of that sentence, now THAT would have been a shocking headline.

[Clint Abear]

10:34 AM on 08/06/2010

im sure fixed news will work on this lol

[DSOTM]

10:28 AM on 08/06/2010

Birther's Poll? Are you kidding me, now that is one sample of the population I surely will trust.

Just a reminder, if 25% say he was not born in the US, that tells me 75% think he was, so why doesn't the headline read "Birther's Poll shows 75% of Americans think Obama was born in the US".

[tice]

11:07 AM on 08/06/2010

It's more shocking that 25% of the population are imbeciles than 75% of the population are reasonable...on this particular topic.

And we know how the media loves shock value.

[DSOTM]

12:59 PM on 08/06/2010

Like I said, would you trust a poll released by the Birther movement?

[TexasDem0]

09:49 AM on 08/06/2010

This only highlights the shameful number of uninformed, gullible people in the U.S.

[BEHM777]

10:06 AM on 08/06/2010

F & F!!

[iconoclast6]

11:47 AM on 08/06/2010

And also too!