Obama co-sponsors law that would protect McCain from citizenship loophole

[BeyondGeography]

Obama Backs Law That Aids McCain

FORT WORTH -- Barack Obama's campaign announced that he will co-sponsor legislation introduced Thursday by political ally Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) to ensure that John McCain can become president, even though the senator from Arizona was born in the Panama Canal Zone.

The issue of McCain's eligibility was raised in a New York Times article noting that the constitutional requirement that a U.S. president be a "natural-born citizen" has never been fully defined.

McCaskill's bill would establish the eligibility of anyone born to a U.S. citizen who is serving overseas as an active or reserve member of the U.S. armed forces. McCain's father was a Navy officer serving in the Panama Canal Zone when McCain was born there in 1936.

"Senator McCain has earned the right to be his party's nominee, and no loophole should prevent him from competing in this campaign," Obama said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/29/AR2008022903816.html

[dkf]

1. Would this then make it impossible for children of non-military

U.S. citizen parents born abroad to run for President?

Hmmm.

[helderheid]

7. I'd like to know that too. My son was born in Holland with an American mom and Dutch dad.

[mtnsnake]

2. Is that part of his DLC theme of reaching out to Republicans?

[existentialist]

3. Good

1) That's good its a reasonable thing to do.

2) By any reasonable construction the Panama Canal Zone was a part of the United States when McCain was born.

3) Technically, where the provision that a President must have been born in the United States is constitutional, a statue can't change that. But its enactment would give the Court a sense of the perception of the matter by Congress, and (on this one) even of the people.

4) Obama's support of the issue is an indication that he wants the campaign to turn on substance, and not petty technicalities--for him to take a contrary position would just look petty, and he would end up losing on the point.

5) Actually, the exception needs to be broader. I can't imagine that the founders intended to bar the child of an ambassador born while the ambassador was representing the United States abroad from some day becoming President--or for that matter any child born to an American citizen while that citizen was serving the interests of the United States.

[jody]

4. The issue is what the Constitution means and that's SCOTUS' job although they will probably approve

McCain for president.

[NashVegas]

5. This Story Is the Silliest Fucking Thing I Ever Heard Of

And I've got to wonder WTF the NY Times was thinking when they published that article.

[TexasObserver]

6. Good move by Obama, but no impact on the constitutional question. However ...

... this is a false issue, as McCain is clearly qualified under the constitution. Otherwise, no citizen born of American parents while outside the country would be qualified for president or VP. That would eliminate all the military children born while their mother is outside the US.

This is a non issue, and the people who pulled this out are rightwingers who hate McCain.