@bkcunningham It’s part of demonizing the “other.” Dark skin is a visible sign of his “otherness” to many folks. Of course, it’s not cool to be racist, so it gets transferred to whatever is convenient and vaguely defendable. It’s not usually a conscious thing, It is, however, the same kind of thing as being racist, although I think it would be more accurate to call it “otherist.” When we don’t like someone, and a lot of the reasons we don’t like them are really just because we don’t like them, we need to hang that dislike on something vaguely appropriate. In other words, if it wasn’t the momentary uncertainty about his birth certificate, the detractors would find something else that could be sold as a legitimate beef.
I say this because these accusations are so absurd and so meaningless, that they have to have something to do with a cultural meme, rather than the surface facts. Character is another thing like this. People believe they can read a person’s character by looking at their faces for a few debates, or by reading a few stories in the news that may or may not be true. If a person has committed an infidelity, that is automatic grounds, in most cases, for impeaching his character. But it isn’t always true. Homosexuality is no longer an automatic disqualification. Not sure if financial improprieties ever were.
@ETpro‘s explanation of the Big Lie is similar. These ideas persist despite any amount of debunking. I’m sure you have a dozen reasons in your mind already about why the poll really did tell the truth. But in the end it’s what you, and what all of us want to believe more than it is about any facts we might bring to the table.
This is something that always bothered me about liberals. We always try to do research and present scientific data, as if that mattered. In so many cases, all we need to do is be first on the scene and keep repeating lies early and often, just like people like Rush Limbaugh do. But we usually don’t do that. We usually think that political debate is honest and people will listen to reason. But then, we’re starry-eyed idealists. Not really prepared to sell our souls. Not that we would have a problem with that, since most of us don’t believe in souls.