What do the words of the Constitution mean? Giving 0bama the benefit where there is ambiguity he must a) be natural born, and b) a citizen.
Most of us keep the required papers close at hand because we need them to do simple things such as renew our drivers licenses or travel.
But I guess it's different when you're running for office. I was once on the ballot and elected to a very minor local office, and all I did was sign a form for the county elections department with no proof of ID or even residency in the district.
The truth is, the free press (and in revolutionary times that meant anyone who could afford to have a pamphlet printed — there weren’t the monopolies there are now — though we do have the internet, where you don’t even need $ to print your opinion on blogs, FR, etc) is SUPPOSED to take care of this problem.
If someone is running for office and there is something unsavory about him that the general public might not know, the press is supposed to write about it and inform people. Now there are also libel and slander laws to protect someone against malicious lies, as well.
But our “free press” which is actually a monopolized conglomerate at this point, with most Americans only finding ONE side of any story easily, never even mentions the fact that our new President has never been vetted for one of the two meagre qualifications for the office. They want him, so they don’t care. Frankly, even if I wanted Obama, I still care to stick to our Constitution. Laws mean things, too.