A poll released Tuesday from Public Policy Polling shows just 24 percent of Republicans in North Carolina believe that President Obama was born in the United States, despite all evidence that he was indeed born in Hawaii. When factoring in both Democrat and Independent voters, that figure increases, but only to 54 percent.

It's not just Obama that some North Carolinian voters are concerned about, though -- it's his native state. Of those who voted for McCain in North Carolina, only 89 percent agreed that Hawaii is part of the United States.

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So, what's the matter with North Carolina? Well, it's not just that state. Another PPP poll from Virginia the week prior showed only 53 percent of all voters believe the president was born in the United States. But, the numbers from both states are not a big surprise -- last month a poll from Kos/Research 2000 showed 58 percent of Republicans either believe that Obama was not born in the United States or aren't sure, and the results showed a far greater concentration in the South than any other region of the United States.

But besides being a regional issue, I wonder if North Carolina's and Virginia's status as swing states could also play into these findings -- not only are so-called birthers more likely to concentrate resources there, voters are also used to hearing a lot of partisan rhetoric. Of course, though the final tally was close for both Virginia and North Carolina in 2008, it should be noted that Obama still won both states.


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