[mlocher]

Actually, IIRC, VP Cheney could legally request those records, if reports are correct that he and Barack Obama share a common ancestor.

I have tried to request birth certificates of people that share a common ancestor with me and have been told that I could not have them. I was told that I could only request birth certificates of direct ancestors. I have run into this in two different states. Does the office of VP afford different rules? Or might the rules differ by state?

[Gondring]

IMO, the certificate provided by the campaign is a legit certified short form COLB, and the guy was born in Hawaii (does anyone really think the birth announcement in a Hawaiian newspaper was faked by a woman who had just given birth in Kenya?); however, that doesn't mean that's all there is to the story. I think it's the long form that Sen. Obama is trying to hide, and as long as he keeps people wasting time on the short form, it's just buying time for him.

To clarify, here's the info on obtaining the Short Form record, even if meaningless. From the Hawaii State Department of Health Vital Records website:

Who is Eligible to Apply for Certified Copies of Vital Records?

A certified copy of a vital record (birth, death, marriage, or divorce certificate) is issued only to an applicant who has a direct and tangible interest in the record. The following persons are considered to have such an interest:

• the registrant (the person whom the record is concerned with);
• the registrant’s spouse;
• the registrant’s parent(s);
• a descendant of the registrant (e.g., a child or grandchild);
• a person having a common ancestor with the registrant (e.g., a sibling, grandparent, aunt/uncle, or cousin);
• a legal guardian of the registrant;
• a person or agency acting on behalf of the registrant;
• a personal representative of the registrant’s estate;
• a person whose right to obtain a copy of the record is established by an order of a court of competent jurisdiction;
• adoptive parents who have filed a petition for adoption and need to determine the death of one or more of the prospective adopted child’s natural or legal parents;
• a person who needs to determine the marital status of a former spouse in order to determine the payment of alimony;
• a person who needs to determine the death of a nonrelated co-owner of property purchased under a joint tenancy agreement; and
• a person who needs a death certificate for the determination of payments under a credit insurance policy.

I haven't found the procedure for obtaining a long-form record, though. I don't know that it's held at the state level--in many places, it's either at the county or hospital.