It May Be Time to Resolve the Meaning of ‘Natural Born’
'After he left Wall Street to enter politics eight years ago, Representative Jim Himes, Democrat of Connecticut, began fielding the occasional question of when he intended to run for president.
It has come up in jest any number of times, said Mr. Himes, who always has his answer ready. There could be constitutional questions.
Mr. Himes, you see, was born in Peru in 1966 while his father worked for the Ford Foundation. That makes him one of at least 17 current members of Congress who, because of their birth outside the United States, could run afoul of the Constitutions natural born citizen presidential requirement should they try to relocate down Pennsylvania Avenue.
For generations, confusion and uncertainty have surrounded this murky presidential qualification. It is a question that dogged President Obama, and even his challenger in 2008, Senator John McCain. With birtherism now seemingly a regular feature of American politics, demand is mounting for a definitive answer to the modern meaning of natural born, a term that was crafted in an era when ocean crossings took months and people rarely ventured more than a few miles beyond where they were born.
We need to resolve this issue, said Representative Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat who was born in Karachi, Pakistan, in 1959 when his father was an American diplomat. Obviously there are still some outstanding legal questions.'>>>
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/19/us/politics/it-may-be-time-to-resolve-the-meaning-of-natural-born.html?
Cartoonist
(7,314 posts)When that muscle head was a rising star in the GOP, the repubs wanted to amend the Constitution so he could run for president.
Then Obama came along and they weren't so keen on the idea even though he was born in Hawaii.
Enter Cruz.
yurbud
(39,405 posts)That is not natural.
CTyankee
(63,900 posts)asap. I can't stand even looking at him. I don't think he's eligible....
elleng
(130,834 posts)but that determination will take a while, after SOMEONE takes it up in court.
CTyankee
(63,900 posts)convince him that he could very well LOSE the election due to some kind of decision of the Supreme Court. You know how fast Bush v. Gore was geared up so it could happen. But I'd want earlier, not later...
Who do you think would be able to successfully sue and have standing at SCOTUS?
elleng
(130,834 posts)but trump might have standing. Rubio? Jeb? He's such an arrogant sob, I don't know that any outside pressure would do it.
Have to think about how the facts might play out, to make it happen, but at least trump has the incentive and $.
Let's see what happens in Iowa and NJ.