Only a quarter of Republicans in critical caucus-state Iowa believe that President Obama was born in the U.S. A massive 48 per cent of GOP voters in the Hawkeye State, who said that they will vote in the first caucus of the presidential election race, said they doubted the President’s place of birth.
Some 26 per cent said they believed the President, 26 per cent said they were not sure.
The poll gives a boost to Donald Trump’s ‘birther crusade’, which has seen the reality star and entrepreneur push widely discredited questions about Obama’s nationality back into the national spotlight.
In the Public Policy Polling survey of 419 usual Iowa Republican caucus voters, held between April 15 and 17, Trump came third in a list of preferred GOP candidates.
The Donald polled 14 per cent of the vote, just two points behind Mitt Romney with 16 per cent.
But former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who won the caucus in the 2008 race, remained popular with Iowa Republicans, topping the poll with 27 per cent support.
While Romney is polling second in the state, only 11 per cent said they would be willing to vote for someone who backed a state-level bill mandating that voters have health insurance, as Romney did as governor of Massachusetts.
Sarah Palin only polled eight per cent of the vote, only two points of fellow Tea Party darling Michele Bachmann.
Iowa’s caucus is significant as it will be the first state in the nation to have a chance to show its support for candidates when it goes to the polls on February 6.
Despite the high number of ‘birthers’ among Republican voters in Iowa, the pollsters who ran the survey said support for Trump is below the level seen in other areas.
When PPP polled New Hampshire Republicans a few weeks ago, Trump was the only candidate who came close to that primary’s frontrunner, Mitt Romney, lagging only six points behind.
Dean Debnam, president of PPP said: ‘Iowa still loves Mike Huckabee. If he doesn’t get into the race Mitt Romney will be the nominal front runner in the state.
‘One person Iowa Republicans definitely aren’t too interested in right now is Donald Trump.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1378669/Only-26-cent-Iowa-Republicans-believe-Obama-born-U-S.html#ixzz1K1R3od38
Poster Comment:
Anyone who thinks this isn't an issue doesn't know much about politics. There are people I know who have never voted, who will vote now because of this issue. Romney and the others need to quit being PC and playing it "safe". Or Trump may steamroll them.
