Poll: "Birther" Myth Persists Among Tea Partiers, All Americans

CBS News Poll analysis by the CBS News Polling Unit: Sarah Dutton,Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus and Anthony Salvanto.

Although the Constitution requires American presidents to be natural born citizens, as many as 30 percent of Tea Partiers say they think President Obama was born in another country, according to a new CBS News/ New York Times poll. More Tea Partiers, however, at 41 percent, say he was born in the U.S.

The so-called "birther movement," questioning Mr. Obama's origins, began during his presidential campaign. It has steadily persisted through Mr. Obama's presidency, in spite of overwhelming evidence he was born in the United States -- including his 1961 birth announcement, printed in two Hawaii newspapers.

The myth persists among the larger American population, but to a lesser degree, according to the poll, conducted April 5 - 12. Thirty-two percent of Republicans think the president was born in another country.

Among Americans overall, 58 percent think Mr. Obama was born in this country, while 20 percent say he was born elsewhere. Significant percentages aren't sure or don't have an opinion.

More from the Poll:

Tea Party Supporters: Who They Are and What They Believe
Tea Partiers View Palin, Beck and Bush Favorably
Tea Party Activists Small but Passionate Group
Most Tea Partiers Believe Too Much Made of Problems Facing Blacks
Most Tea Party Supporters Say Their Taxes Are Fair

Read the Complete Poll on Tea Party Members (PDF)
Read the Complete Poll on What Tea Partiers Believe (PDF)

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This poll was conducted among a random sample of 1,580 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone April 5-12, 2010. Phone numbers were dialed from RDD samples of both standard land-lines and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher.

An oversample of people who describe themselves as supporters of the Tea Party movement were interviewed, for a total of 881 interviews. The results were then weighted in proportion to the adult population. The margin of error for the sample of Tea Party supporters is three points. This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

[americafirst99999]

To infer that any group could conspire to put a non-American into the White House is mathematically improbable. How could they have predicted that he would be able to defeat Hilary in the primary alone. To set up a conspiracy that huge is impossible. I am a member of the Tea Party and will forever fight against many of the policies Obama supports. I refuse to be reduced to the point of having my ideas themselves being called into question because of a ludicrus idea such as that. I feel the same way about "birthers" as I do about Truthers".

[Stompydog]

Expecting Obama to respond to these accusations any more than he already has is like expecting George Bush to prove beyond a doubt that he is not a shapeshifting lizard man, rumors of which still persist to this day.

[USANBC]

A bizarre set of comments. You focus on left vs. right arguments, while the real question here is journalistic integrity. Stephanie Condon is a 1st-Amendment protected member of the press. American servicemen have died and continue to die today to protect her right. These brave servicemen hold left, right, and middle political opinions. But Stephanie Condon has chosen to ignore that fact. This so-called "journalist" foments battle among you by posting a clearly biased headline, "Poll: "Birther" Myth Persists Among Tea Partiers, All Americans". Stephanie Condon chose to use the word "Myth" in her headline. She's editorializing, and by doing so, she lacks journalistic integrity. If you don't get that Stephanie Condon is gaming you, then you'd best think about why you're sending your sons and daughters into harm's way to protect her.

[andacar]

People would rather believe in massive conspiracies instead of plain simple facts. They will eagerly accept the most preposterous notions, for example, that some vast secret cabal invented Obama's American birth in order to create a socialist plant to destroy the country, etc. etc. Written as a script proposal such a story would be roundly rejected by Hollywood agents as implausible. But millions believe, or half believe, these evil ideas. No matter how idiotic, illogical and nonsensical the conspiracy theory is, lots of Americans want to believe it because they are incapable of extrapolating even the most basic conclusions from a series of facts. Oh, sorry. I?ll translate: birthers are STUPID.

[bompins]

No, andacar - YOU are stupid. There is nothing preposterous about the issue of Obama's birth certificate. Anyone with a brain knows that Obama foresaw these challenges coming and therefore, as a "preemptive strike", had his people post the "birth certificate" online. Well, that document had nothing on it that would identify the hospital, doctor or any other witnesses, nor did it contain a time of day or anything else. When you lie and try to cover up, inconsistencies appear like cracks in your story. An example of this is the name of the hospital at which he was supposedly born. Obama's family has named TWO hospitals: Queens Medical Center and Kapiolani Medical Center. These are two separate facilities! Why can't they get that right? And why is Obama sending legal teams to seal all his personal records. Answer that one for me, anadacar. Why seal all your school records, college records, etc.? He obviously has something to hide. This will only escalate with time, unless he makes his birth certificate public.

[gellero]

Birthers are loony?? Here's how to solve it.....THE LONG FORM BIRTH CERTIFICATE !!

Funny, but my parents told me the hospital & Dr of my birth. Footprints on the hospital certificate. Also there were movies and pics of me coming out of the hospital as an infant. Normal American behavior. Why don't we see any of this with Obama.?? Can you blame the birthers for being suspicious??

[andacar]

Absolutely. Why ddidn't they ask George Bush for his birth certificate? Or any of the others? Why just this president?

[gjconely]

whats funny, is Michele Obama has even stated "his home country of Kenya". Just YouTube search "michele obama home kenya" and watch. So, does this make her a "birther"?

[Fight4Rights]

Supporters seem to be so upset over this. People have no problem criticizing any other president. As soon as it's Obama, you get outrage like you would if you question Jesus and his existence.

[Fight4Rights]

Also, his "certificate of live birth" is what was released. And for those that are hardcore "Obamanauts" it is not the same thing as a bith certificate. This can be obtained even if you are a state resident born outside the states.

[FauxNews]

I want to know how many Tea Partiers think Obama's Mother was a Jackal.

[iirishamerican]

I want to know how many morons think obungler has been telling them the truth about ANYTHING?

[ivandrago]

The shameful thing is that so many people are internally lying to themselves. Not many people could truly believe this convoluted tall tell. The plot that has been floated would have taken 40+ years to possibly even succeed. Clearly this belief is a way to try and rob the president of his legitimacy. They really don't believe it, they simply wish it were true.

[bradkt1]

The bigger the lie, the easier it is to fool people.

The birth certificate for President Obama that the State of Hawaii has produced would be accepted as conclusive proof by any court of law in the United States...state or federal.

That's good enough for me, but it will never be good enough for the birthers.

This was never about a birth certificate. It is about racism trying to look respectable.