[kkalman]

I suspect he might have been born in 1959, just prior to Hawaii being admitted to the union. That is why they are hiding it.

[carton253]

Hawaii was a territory. If he was born in 1959, he would be eligible to run for president.

[Tallguy]

I suspect he might have been born in 1959, just prior to Hawaii being admitted to the union.

I don't think thats relevant -- Hawaii being a US Territory at the time.

[madinmadtown]

I am not sure that I agree with you, but it does seem to me that there was probably some sort of record clean-up in Hawaii in the years following statehood. By that I mean, there were probably a lot of pretty loose standards of documentation of things like births on the islands. Once the territory became a state, there were probably several years where people were taken at their word for official documents regarding things such as births, marriages so that they could be recorded as public or official documents. Given the religious background of Obama’s family, there would not have been traditional church documentation of a baptism for the baby.

[JoeA]

It wouldn’t matter. Hawaii was a territory, and therefore part of the US.