[RJL]

I’ve never heard of anyone releasing their birth certificate. Has any candidate for any office ever done that?

I don't know the procedures, but to be President it's a requirement to be 35 years old and a native born American.

A birth certificate is about the only way to document both.

[BunnySlippers]

Supposedly McCain is not native born.

[Alter Kaker]

To my knowledge, nobody has ever seriously challenged a candidate's birthplace or age (the rumors that Chester A. Arthur was born in Canada never led to a contest). No candidate for the presidency has ever had to prove his age or place of birth that I know of, nor has one ever been required to produce a birth certificate.

Presumably, if that was in doubt, there would be a lawsuit of some sort at which point evidence of all kinds, including birth certificates would be admissible.

[BunnySlippers]

I just looked it up.
McCain was born in Coco Solo, Panama Canal Zone, Panama.