A new ABC/Washington Post poll finds some curious facts about Birthers, the people who think that President Obama was born in another country instead of in Hawaii. As it turns out, there is a divide between those who only suspect this to be the case, and those who think there is solid evidence — and furthermore, some of them approve of his job performance.
As part of its general national survey of adults in late April, ABC/WaPo asked, “where was Barack Obama born, as far as you know?” The initial answer was 68% United States, 14% another country. ABC then pushed the undecideds, by asking for their best guess. After those leaners were pushed, the final result was 77% United States, 20% somewhere else.
Among the 20% who said Obama was born elsewhere, only about half thought there is solid evidence that Obama was born elsewhere, with the other half saying it was only a “suspicion.” This would make sense, since the initial question gave only 14% who said another country, with another 6% of leaners then being pushed — so the latter group would seem the ideal source of people who think Obama was born elsewhere, but also say that they can’t prove it.
Furthermore, two-thirds of birthers disapprove of Obama’s job performance, with a third actually approving.
The same ABC/WaPo polling sample had Obama’s approval rating at 54%, with 44% disapproving. This puts Birther approval of Obama at about 20 points behind the norm. The poll of American adults has a margin of error of ±3.5%.
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