Birthers Comprise Majority Of Likely 2012 GOP Primary Voters (POLL)

A survey released by Public Policy Polling on Tuesday finds skepticism over President Barack Obama's citizenship to be alive and well within the Republican community.

According to the poll, 51 percent of those likely to vote in a GOP primary in the next election cycle adhere to the conspiracy theory suggesting the president was born outside the United States and therefore is ineligible to serve.

Twenty-eight percent of respondents say they have no doubt that Obama is a citizen of the U.S., while 21 percent remain unsure, the survey shows.

An excerpt of analysis from PPP:

The GOP birther majority is a new development. The last time PPP tested this question nationally, in August of 2009, only 44% of Republicans said they thought Obama was born outside the country while 36% said that he definitely was born in the United States. If anything birtherism is on the rise.

For former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, the poll's findings suggest the potential presidential candidate could have a difficult time appealing to the birther voting bloc should he choose to run. Per PPP:

Well among the 49% of GOP primary voters who either think Obama was born in the United States or aren't sure, Romney's the first choice to be the 2012 nominee by a good amount, getting 23% to 16% for Mike Huckabee, 11% for Sarah Palin, and 10% for Newt Gingrich.

But with the birther majority he's in a distant fourth place at 11%...

The poll finds that within the birther community, Palin maintains a sky-high 83 percent approval rating. Conversely, among those who believe the president was born in the U.S., 47 percent view the former Alaska governor in a positive light.

"Any thought that the birther theory has been put to rest can be thrown out the window
with this poll," explained President of Public Policy Polling president Dean Debnam. "That view is still widely held in Republican circles."

 

 

Comments

[kritiktwee]

11:29 AM on 03/04/2011

Birtherism is getting more weirder and sick.

[GJCO-JMH]

06:46 PM on 02/18/2011

The PPP summary conveniently leaves out exactly how they chose "Republican primary voters". But given the dates, it was clearly done at CPAC, with the second clue being that almost 40% of the sample considered themselves "very conservative" - - clearly not representative of a valid cross section of the Republican Party considering that CPAC is a conservative gathering known to attract the uber-conservative fringes along with moderates and Libertarians.

As Matthews' comments brilliantly illustrate, BO fans would like nothing better than to keep the "birthers" in the limelight - since they have so little else to campaign on.

[Wendy Dreeszen Wiese]

02:23 AM on 02/18/2011

It's official. 51% of Americans polled will believe conspiracy theories passed through spammy email. If it's passed around through email, it must be true. LOL

[SouthernJewel]

07:32 PM on 02/17/2011

Polling?
Puhleeeeze...depends on how the questions are asked, which lean is taken, blah blah blah.
Who even has a landline to be polled via phone anyway?
I know I don't and the majority of my friends don't AND every person under 30 that I know doesn't have a landline.
I don't give out my cell phone number to anyone but friends and family.

Polling?
Puhleeeeze.

[Wanjiru]

06:11 PM on 03/03/2011

I heard landlines are making a comeback.
.

[onionboy]

06:48 PM on 02/17/2011

The way the Republican Party is going, with a constituency like this, I suspect they may be putting forward a bill soon to change from White House to White's House. Where have all the normal conservatives gone? There used to be some. I swear. I remember.

[Peter Combs]

06:02 PM on 02/17/2011

Huckabee, Gingrich et al...haven't got a chance. Neither does Romney. The Republicans will put forward someone anyone hardly knows...just likie the Dems did with Obama, its a good angle.

All the old Candidates have way too much luggage and will cause way too many distractions.

[AmericanDoughboy]

03:52 PM on 02/17/2011

From what is expected from the man we should hope he came from Krypton!

[robnelsong]

12:04 PM on 02/17/2011

Yes, the Republican Party has a sizable number of birthers, flat earth society members, climate change deniers, non-believers in evolution, and civil war revisionists. What I can't understand is how a rational conservative can throw in their lot with such fools.

[swimbiker]

06:29 PM on 02/17/2011

My theory is that all the normal Republicans have gone underground or have become Independents suddenly.

[Paul Easter]

12:01 PM on 02/17/2011

I love how support for Palin is used as a baseline to measure one's stup1dity.

[imtruthmonger]

10:06 AM on 02/17/2011

Proof that narcissism is psychologically contagious when exposed to wholesale ignorance.

[Edward Standley]

09:21 AM on 02/17/2011

It's very telling that the largest number of Palin supporters are "birthers". Gee, that's great company to be in.

[KnifeEdgePass]

09:12 AM on 02/17/2011

This is hilarious. The President, and Dems, are willing to concede vast chunks of voters because BHO won't produce his long form BC and make this issue go away. A stunning lack of brainpower is at work here, and HP posters amazingly defend BHO's unwilliingness to present credentials, and have helped this issue take on a life all it's own; what's worse is the lack of consideration for OTHER voters, all fellow Americans, who simply want to see the credentials.
BHO's staff is either incredibly stupid or are hiding something. Defenders mindlessly guard it with insults, snapping at any doubters like the guard dog on the Omen.

[lifepanels]

09:35 AM on 02/17/2011

"A stunning lack of brainpower is at work here," Exactly!

Putting the debate to rest:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/birthcertificate.asp

Legal document of his birth:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2008/06/13/bobirthcertificate.jpg

[lifepanels]

09:37 AM on 02/17/2011

The article with his legal document of his birth. Maybe, like mine, the original was lost in a house fire. Doesn't matter. This is a legal document.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/06/obama-birth.html

[KnifeEdgePass]

10:03 AM on 02/17/2011

Life, read the article, thanks. It shows that the COLB was presented, not the Long form BC. They are not the same. Now the Hawaii Dept of Health has stated she's seen it, but has it filed/locked away; Abercrombie, the new Gov, came in and swore he'd find the BC and release it, and for a month and a half he searched... nothing.
I realize that the Gov couldn't release the BC without BHO's permission anyway, but the Gov slinked away from this VERY public search, never acknowleging that he found ANYthing. There was no house fire... Aren't you the least bit curious?

[lifepanels]

09:10 AM on 02/17/2011

I was born in Portland, Maine. My original birth certificate was lost in a house fire. Life happens.

Both Portland and Honolulu have legal document recordings of our births. I have a copy of mine. I've seen a copy of Obama's. It's legal! All legal. End of story.

[TheMilesHome]

09:10 AM on 02/17/2011

I love it when the baggers say something like this. As if modern history started after the Bush administration.

Oh wait... I'm sorry... You said American LEADER? That leaves "W" out.

[Edward Standley]

09:22 AM on 02/17/2011

Don't be silly.

[CongaChile]

08:43 AM on 02/17/2011

Sad commentary on the citizens of this country. It proves that we need to increase spending for education. Birthers probably have a better understanding of American Idle or Dancing With The Stars than they do of our system of government or the constitution they claim to hold so dear, but clearly don't have a clue about.