Poll: Nearly half of New Hampshire Republicans are birthers, and many support Trump

Donald Trump's play into the fictional world of birther politics seems to have paid tremendous dividends in New Hampshire, where a poll this week found that nearly half of likely Republican primary voters don't believe the president is a U.S. citizen.

With Trump pitching himself as the candidate of these so-called "birthers," he's engendered quite a bit of support.

The man who's applauded Nancy Pelosi, claimed to be pro-choice and openly said he's more of a Democrat than a Republican, was second among likely GOP candidates in the state and within single digits of the front-runner, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney (R)

The results would seem to lend credence to critics who say some conservatives have voter "amnesia" and aren't quite sure of what they believe.

The state's overall approval rating of President Obama was 49 percent, according to the left-leaning Public Policy Polling. That number is actually over the national average last gaged at 42 percent by Quinnipiac University.

Even though President Obama has continued many of President George W. Bush's policies at home and abroad, just 13 percent of Republicans in the state said they approved of the job he's doing. A full 79 percent of New Hampshire Republicans said they opposed the president's agenda.

The poll also found that among "birthers" and tea party Republicans, Trump fared even better, even surpassing the hands-down front-runner Mitt Romney with the group that believes Obama wasn't born in the U.S.

The poll also found that 42 percent of likely primary voters in New Hampshire do not believe Obama is a citizen, and among them Trump tops Romney 22-21 percent. In the wider cross-section of Republicans, Romney leads with 27 percent to Trump's 21 percent.

President Obama still out-polls all the most likely Republican front-runners by double digits, despite his sinking fortunes of late.

Despite the beliefs of many "birthers," Obama is indeed a U.S. citizen. He turned over his birth certificate well before running for office and has since published it online and allowed reporters to view the original document.