Comments on: Is John McCain Qualified To Be President

By: tonto

tonto — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 19:36:10 +0000

This comment from the comment section of Volokh Conspiracy sums it up for me. That would include the civics class Encino.

Houston Lawyer:So the NYT position is that the son of US Citizens born abroad is ineligible for president but that the son of illegal aliens born in this country would be eligible. I was taught in high school civics class that children of US parents are citizens from birth regardless of where that birth took place. It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that no one at the NYT ever took high school civics.

By: C Stanley

C Stanley — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 15:22:23 +0000

wj: Does this answer your question? Kind of makes sense that that crowd would use this particular attack. "Look! He's not even a REAL AMERICAN!!!!"

By: wj

wj — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 15:17:12 +0000

I would be fascinated to know whether the people raising this issue are right-wing xenophobes, or left-wing anti-militarists. Because I somehow doubt that any significant portion of them are actually scholars of Constitutional law.

By: C Stanley

C Stanley — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 11:07:17 +0000

Encinoman- perhaps you can start a movement to bring a lawsuit then, on behalf of the Democratic party, to make sure those children of military families never subvert the country by claiming to be eligible to run for POTUS.

By: Encinomanbrewery

Encinomanbrewery — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 05:19:58 +0000

Johnny "Manchurian Candidate" McCain has nothing in common with Goldwater. The difference between him and Goldwater is Johnny is no Barry Goldwater libertarian-republican. Goldwater was born in a territory of the USA, Arizona. Thus Goldwater is a "natural born citizen". McCain was born in the Panama Canal which was never recognized as a territory of the USA. Foreign embassy’s are US territories, military bases are not. Thus he can’t be Presidento, except of Panama.

By: hotred

hotred — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 03:47:40 +0000

just another way to treat the children of military personnel as second-class citizens. what else is new?

By: Tannim

Tannim — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 02:19:10 +0000

Nope. McCain is NOT eligible. See http://muddythoughts.blogspot.com/2008/02/panmanchurian-candidate-mccain.html for the fully cited legal details.

By: Claudia

Claudia — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 19:59:52 +0000

This is interesting, I’m actually in the same situation as John McCain in this respect. I was born in Spain but declared American at birth (Spanish law at the time said you have the nationality of your father and anyway any child of an American parent has an instant right to nationality). You get a little birth certificate, I still have mine, of "American born abroad". I had always assumed that since I wasn’t born on American soil, I was ineligible for the presidency (not that I’m interested).

To me it was a holdover from the first years of the US, an attempt to make sure that no Englishman could become American, become president, and then hand us back to the king. It always has struck me as rather ridiculous, an American born while his or her parents are on vacation is ineligible for the presidency, but an American born in Texas who grows up in Paris could legally try to become president.

Hopefully it ISN’T unconstitutional, I don’t want McCain to lose on THAT silly count. If it is it should be resolved, by an amendment. I can’t think that it would have difficulty passing.

By: casualobserver

casualobserver — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 18:25:34 +0000

I’m impressed by how effectively this was addressed here (or, more aptly, at SF).

Jason, thanks for the idea on the lawsuit…….I’m thinking a sockpuppet post over at ThinkProgress to suggest the notion…….

By: PatHMV

PatHMV — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 17:53:34 +0000

And I would add that that’s an ENTIRELY "textualist," "originalist" argument. No amendment to the constitution is necessary. That is the proper result from applying the text of the constitution as written by the framers.