Many GOP voters doubt Obama is U.S. citizen
Mar 05, 2012
Many GOP voters doubt Obama is U.S. citizen
By David Jackson, USA TODAY Updated 36m ago
Those who don't believe President Obama was born in the United States appear to make up a pretty hefty percentage of Republican voters in three key Super Tuesday states, according to a new poll.
More than a third of primary voters in Tennessee, Georgia and Ohio do not believe Obama was born in Honolulu, reports Public Policy Polling of Raleigh, N.C.
The PPP breakdown:
-- In Tennessee only 33% of GOP primary voters think Barack Obama was born in the United States, while 45% do not.
-- In Georgia 40% of Republican primary voters think Obama was born in the United States, while 38% do not.
-- In Ohio 42% of Republican primary voters think Obama was born in the United States, while 37% do not.
PPP also noted that these voters -- known as "birthers" -- tend to support the more conservative Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich over Mitt Romney heading into Tuesday's contests.
"If Romney ends up coming short on his late charge in Tennessee it may be due to his inability to compete with this fringe group," reports PPP. "Among non-birthers, he trails Santorum only 34-33. But with the birther contingent he's in a distant third at 24% to Santorum's 35% and Gingrich's 32%."
The White House released copies of Obama's birth certificate last year, showing that he was born Aug. 4, 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii.
President Obama
CAPTIONBy Susan Walsh, APPublic Policy Polling also surveyed voters on the Rush Limbaugh controversy:
Our numbers suggest that Rush Limbaugh has seen significant erosion in his popularity with Republican voters over the last week. The last time we polled on him nationally he was at 80/12 (favorable/unfavorable) with GOPers. But now we find him below 50% in all three of these states: he's at 45/28 in Ohio, 46/29 in Tennessee, and 44/30 in Georgia.
Republican women in particular have become very skeptical about Limbaugh in the states holding tomorrow's 2 most competitive contests. He's at only 39/28 with them in Ohio and 36/30 in Tennessee.
Feelings about Limbaugh produce a pretty big divide in who GOP voters are planning to cast their ballots for tomorrow. Among Ohio Republicans who like Limbaugh Santorum leads Romney 39-35. With ones who dislike him Romney has the 39-30 advantage.
Many GOP voters doubt Obama is U.S. citizen