First it was the ridiculous idea that Bill Clinton could become Hillary’s vice-president (in the increasingly unlikely event that she could become president). Now this:
The question has nagged at the parents of Americans born outside the continental United States for generations: Dare their children aspire to grow up and become president? In the case of Senator John McCain of Arizona, the issue is becoming more than a matter of parental daydreaming.
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.
“There are powerful arguments that Senator McCain or anyone else in this position is constitutionally qualified, but there is certainly no precedent,“ said Sarah H. Duggin, an associate professor of law at Catholic University who has studied the issue extensively. “It is not a slam-dunk situation.“ »
McCain’s Canal Zone Birth Prompts Queries About Whether That Rules Him Out
There is nothing in Article II of the Constitution that requires a presidential candidate born after the formation of this country, to have been born within the national boundaries of the United States. The qualifications are as follows: at least 35 years of age, a natural born citizen of the U.S., and resident within the U.S. for no less than 14 years.
...to me, a simple layman who has a passing understanding of the English language, the interpretation is simple: if you were a U.S. Citizen at the moment of your birth, either through your presence within the United States or by dint of having at least one American parent, you are a “natural born citizen.“ If you had to petition to become a citizen, you are a “naturalized citizen.“ To my mind, the universe of citizens is broken in to two parts: natural born and naturalized.»
Natural born citizen
Exactly.
I never wanted John McCain to be president. I don’t want him to receive my party’s nomination at the convention later this year. But as far as the U.S. Constitution is concerned the only concern with McCain is his demonstrated lack of respect for the First Amendment (McCain-Feingold).
But there isn’t even anything in the Constitution that says a candidate who has written unconstitutional legislation is ineligible to be president. John McCain is therefore eligible.
The question of whether he should be elected is entirely a political matter. As it should be.
