The Tea Party’s Dada Legacy

First, delightful news: Despite all the noise made by conservatives, American citizens aren’t really interested in them — at least not for the White House.

According to the latest New York Times/CBS poll, aside from former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, Americans don’t know the potential candidates. And when they do, they don’t have a very good opinion of them. Sarah Palin — certainly the most well-known of all possible White House hopefuls — is viewed negatively by 55 percent of the population.

Now, depressing news for America: An absurd and toxic idea, born on the Internet, is in the process of becoming a bill in several states.

The question of Barack Obama’s birthplace has moved from the most unstable and extreme fringe to the Internet (often the same thing). And now it’s on the verge of translating into “real” life. The quotation marks are necessary because the idea is so crazy that one wonders where reality is.

Bills that would require proof of birthplace for candidates in any election are being considered by five states and will soon be considered by a half-dozen others. Happily, some — like Jan Brewer, Republican governor of Arizona — understand the ridiculousness of the question. But Oklahoma could be the first state to require certified and authenticated proof of birthplace for all candidates. And Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal affirmed that he would enthusiastically sign a law on the question if one were submitted to him. According to a recent poll, 25 percent of Americans believe that the 44th president was born outside the United States and therefore occupies the White House illegally.

Many bills on the question have failed, but the upcoming presidential campaign and primaries are reviving the idea. What’s more, this question could be subject to proposal for a popular vote during the primaries — a tactic devised by Karl Rove, George W. Bush’s electoral guru — to get conservatives out and mobilizing, giving Republican candidates a greater chance of being elected.