The Washington Post is out with a new survey suggesting that the number of Americans who doubt President Obama’s citizenship has fallen dramatically. One week after releasing his long-form birth certificate to the public, just 10-percent of Americans say Obama was “likely” born abroad, down from 20-percent a year ago. That’s progress, I suppose, but 10-percent is still a little high, and it’s clear that some people are simply unwilling to let the conspiracy die.
Yesterday, for instance, the Missouri House of Representatives passed its birther bill, designed to protect the state from allowing any non-citizens to appear on the presidential ballot. Per the measure: “When certifying presidential and vice presidential nominees and requesting that such nominees be placed on the ballot, the state committees of each political party shall provide verifiable evidence of identity and proof of natural born citizenship.”
When I spoke with the bill’s sponsor, GOP Rep. Lyle Rowland, early last month, he emphasized that he’s not a birther. “You know when I first started, reporters and other people were getting after me because I did this because of President Obama,” Rowland said. “And as I told all the other reporters, it’s not about President Obama. I believe the man is President of the United States and has met the qualifications for the presidency.”
To that point, the Missouri bill is not as hysterical as some of the other proposals that have been introduced (there’s no long-form requirement, for instance). But it’s born out of the same hysterical climate, in which prominent conservatives sought to propogate a myth that the President was a foreign agent involved in an elaborate conspiracy to defraud the Republic. Missouri’s provision, which is part of a broader package that includes a new voter ID law, still has to pass the Senate and win the approval of Republican Governor Jay Nixon.
