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February 28, 2008
More fun with Con Law
Well well, the Constitutional Law scholars are at it again. After the rather dubious argument by one citizen that women, especially Hillary Clinton, can't be president, others are suggesting John McCain can't be president. The problem: McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone to his military family, who were US citizens there at the behest of the government. Alas, the Constitution says only natural-born citizens can be president. The logic: so dastardly foreigners, like George III or Arnold Schwarzenegger, can't come in and turn the United States into a monarchy. Now, there is plenty of support that McCain can be president, mostly that children born to US citizens abroad are considered natural born. Personally, I think he is perfectly eligible.
But others admit it isn't a gimme:
Mr. McCain’s likely nomination as the Republican candidate for president and the happenstance of his birth in the Panama Canal Zone in 1936 are reviving a musty debate that has surfaced periodically since the founders first set quill to parchment and declared that only a “natural-born citizen” can hold the nation’s highest office.
Almost since those words were written in 1787 with scant explanation, their precise meaning has been the stuff of confusion, law school review articles, whisper campaigns and civics class debates over whether only those delivered on American soil can be truly natural born. To date, no American to take the presidential oath has had an official birthplace outside the 50 states.
It will be interesting to see how this develops as the election goes on. Which Democrat toadie will bring it up? Even I, as an Obama supporter, will be quite PO'ed if somebody in a Democrat campaign tries to bring this up.
entry no. 1091
Posted at February 28, 2008 01:13 PM
Comments
I think the ruthless, win-at-all-costs Hillary would raise this objection if she gets the nomination, not because she'd prevail but because it would sidetrack/distract McCain while the issue is being resolved. But I think Obama is enough of a gentleman and a fair player to let it slide.
Posted by: Pete at February 29, 2008 11:17 AM
I just saw that an Obama ally, Sen. Claire McCaskill, has introduced legislation that formally clarifies the definition of "natural-born citizen", completely in McCain's favor. And Obama is co-sponsoring the bill. So, as I expected, he's taking the high road. Good for him.
Posted by: Pete at March 1, 2008 11:38 AM