Birthers

Steve Benen:

A new Research 2000 poll conducted for Daily Kos asked respondents a rather straightforward question: "Do you believe that Barack Obama was born in the United States of America or not?" Since the president was born in the U.S., ideally, the results would be around 100%.

Heh. Naturally, they weren't, however—and, predictably, there was a partisan gap in the results. While 4% of self-identified Democrats are "birthers," and 8% of independents are, 28% of Republicans believe President Barack Obama was not born in the US, and, hence, not eligible for the presidency. Says Steve: "For a crazy, demonstrably false, racist idea, these are discouraging numbers." Indeed.

But I was especially surprised by the regional breakdowns. In the Northeast, West, and Midwest, the overwhelming majorities realize the president is a native-born American. But notice the South -- only 47% got it right and 30% are unsure.

Outside the South, this madness is gaining very little traction, and remains a fringe conspiracy theory. Within the South, it's practically mainstream.

If I were the Republican leadership, I would be very worried indeed about this. Of course, it's nothing less than they deserve, given that this is precisely the base they cultivated.

[Commenting Guidelines: No nasty broad swipes at the South. Which is not to say that we can't discuss cultural differences that may explain this disparity. If you don't know into which category a comment like "The South is full of racist assholes!" falls, don't comment. If you do, as I suspect most Shakers do, carry on.]