According to his biography, John McCain was born August 29, 1936 in the Panama Canal Zone, to two U.S. citizens. It's a common misunderstanding that the zone was a U.S. territory - in fact, the U.S. had lease rights, but not territorial rights.

According to the U.S. Constitution;

Article II, Section 1, Clause 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."

Therefore, according to the U.S. Constitution, McCain does not qualify as being a natural born citizen and therefore CANNOT run for the presidency.

What gives here anyhow?

He was born at the Coco Solo...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coco_Solo









Paulites....

The word you should have used is ineligible. Children born to US citizens in another country are US citizens at birth.

__________________
The way we get into these scrapes and get out of them, it's almost as though someone was dreaming up these situations; guiding our destiny. ~The Boy Wonder, alter ego of Dick Grayson, young ward of millionaire Bruce Wayne.

Ineligible would have been a better choice.

Sorry.

Oh? What about the 14th Amendment where it defines a "natural born" citizen?

14th Amendment:

Section. 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.

McCain was NOT born "in" the United States, therefore he is NOT a "natural born" citizen. So that means the only category of citizen he falls under is "naturalized".

As mentioned earlier in this thread, ONLY a "natural born" citizen is eligible to be a candidate for the presidency. "Naturalized" citizens cannot run.

Therefore according to the U.S. Constitution, John McCain CANNOT run for President.

Doesn't matter which word is used.... as he was born on a US military base..he was born a citizen and is not ineligible or unqualified..


In terms of qualifications...nobody else has the qualifications he does..not even close.

From 1904 to 2000, the Panama Canal Zone was U.S. territory, much like the Philippines and Puerto Rico were/are as well. You really need to take an American history class.

So you say.

Wikipedia:

Children born outside the United States to American parents

Three major candidates have sought the Presidency who were born outside the United States: Barry Goldwater (ran in 1964) was born in Arizona while it was still a U.S. territory, George Romney (ran in 196 was born in Mexico to U.S. parents, and John McCain (ran in 2000 and runs in 200 was born in the Panama Canal Zone to U.S. parents.

Barry Goldwater's case among these three is unique in that although Arizona was not a state, it was a fully incorporated territory of the United States, making it debatable whether or not he was born "outside" the United States.

The Panama Canal Zone was under United States sovereignty between 1903 and 1979. None of these candidates was elected, so it has never been fully addressed whether children born to Americans overseas are "natural-born citizens" and thus eligible for the Presidency. However, McCain is currently seeking the 2008 Republican nomination for President.

Well hello... The Panama Territory or the base in which he was born is outside the United States..so yeah...

McCain took over from Goldwater.



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv...8/apprec30.htm

"Natural-born citizen" does not mean born in the US, it means citizen at birth. It was addressed on March 26, 1790 by the first Congress: "The children of citizens of the United States that may be born beyond sea, or outside the limits of the United States, shall be considered as natural-born citizens of the United States."

__________________
The way we get into these scrapes and get out of them, it's almost as though someone was dreaming up these situations; guiding our destiny. ~The Boy Wonder, alter ego of Dick Grayson, young ward of millionaire Bruce Wayne.

Yeah, Doc---sorry but you are absolutely wrong. Obviously you were never in the U.S. military if you don't know that children born to U.S. citizen military while overseas or anywhere else are still U.S. citizens.

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"If the President simply adds a couple of Republican solutions to a trillion dollar health care package that the American people don't support, it isn't bi-partisan. It's political cover," Rep Eric Cantor (R-Va.)