More than two-thirds of Republican voters give credence to "birther" theories, according to a New York Times poll released today:
A plurality of Republican voters, 47 percent, said they believed Mr. Obama, who was born in Hawaii, was born in another country; 22 percent said they did not know where he was born, and 32 percent said they believed he was born in the United States.
Politico's Ben Smith thinks he has an explanation:
I find it hard to believe that millions of Republicans have looked at the non-existent evidence and soberly concluded this. It seems that answering "was Obama born in a foreign country" elicits from Republicans the sort of response from Republicans that "is George W. Bush a moron" would have elicited from Democrats — a way to express reflexive hostility.
Smith may be right. I know that I would tell a pollster that I agree with any negative statement about John Boehner or Paul Ryan, partly in retaliation for this "Obama isn't an American" crap. (Drinking problems? Sexual fetishes? Pact with the devil? Yes, yes, yes!) But I doubt that many of my acquaintances would "lie" that way to a pollster.
What we need is a control question asked of Democratic voters. Maybe something about Fox News, which is the most powerful source of opposition to the Obama administration: "Do you believe that all Fox News employees are required to give blood oaths to the Koch Brothers?"
If 47 percent say yes, we'll know that ideological passion in America is so high that cooperation between the two parties is impossible. If few Democrats bite, we'll know that the insanity is not evenly distributed.
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