Wouldn't it be funny if McBush weren't eligible to be president...

[mcctatas]

...snip...
The phrase “natural born” was in early drafts of the Constitution. Scholars say notes of the Constitutional Convention give away little of the intent of the framers. Its origin may be traced to a letter from John Jay to George Washington, with Jay suggesting that to prevent foreigners from becoming commander in chief, the Constitution needed to “declare expressly” that only a natural-born citizen could be president.

Ms. Duggin and others who have explored the arcane subject in depth say legal argument and basic fairness may indeed be on the side of Mr. McCain, a longtime member of Congress from Arizona. But multiple experts and scholarly reviews say the issue has never been definitively resolved by either Congress or the Supreme Court.







http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/us/politics/28mccain.html?ref=politics

[TechBear_Seattle]

1. Article II, Section 1, para. 5

No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty five years, and been fourteen Years a resident within the United States.

Interesting that McCain was born in Panama. I hope that, once again, the question has no need to be investigated.

[Ravy]

9. You are not reading the whole thing. McCain was 11 at the time of adoption of the Constitution.

:rofl:

[Eurobabe]

10. ...

[Johnny__Motown]

2. Impossible, it was a U.S. Territory and it was a Military base, both are U.S. soil

If you extend this line of thinking then he would need a green card.

Good luck arguing that McCain is actually an illegal immigrant from central america

[laconicsax]

5. That sounds like a job for a 527 group

[tritsofme]

3. I would find it disturbing.

That a person who is born outside of the United States due to his father's military service may be ineligible to run for president.

Not "funny" at all.

[mcctatas]

6. not funny haha...

perhaps a poor choice of word...funny as in absurd...:yoiks:

[Muttocracy]

4. does he have citizenship anywhere else? nt

[Inchworm]

7. That's just crazy talk

Seems like no matter where you are stationed you have a home of record.

I don't know how that works with births, but I'm sure it ties into it. Otherwize, wouldnt active duty folks be rushing to the US for births?

:shrug:

[mcctatas]

8. Apparently, it has never been tested...

the sticking point is the term "natural born"

Mr. McCain’s citizenship was established by statutes covering the offspring of Americans abroad and laws specific to the Canal Zone as Congress realized that Americans would be living and working in the area for extended periods. But whether he qualifies as natural-born has been a topic of Internet buzz for months, with some declaring him ineligible while others assert that he meets all the basic constitutional qualifications — a natural-born citizen at least 35 years of age with 14 years of residence.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/us/politics/28mccain.html?ref=politics