Democratic Primaries
In reply to the discussion: A Joe Biden/Barack Obama ticket passes Constitutional muster according to legal experts [View all]mr_lebowski
(33,643 posts)He's not ineligible to BE president, he's ineligible to be ELECTED President. In this case, he'd not be elected President.
22nd specifically sets a 10 year time limit on total time as President, if through succession.
Obama is eligible to BE President for 2 more years but only through succession, not through election.
People who write Constitutional Amendments are not dumb people.
Had they MEANT that a POTUS who'd served two terms became ineligible to serve as POTUS ever again, they'd have said that.
Instead they specifically said 'cannot be ELECTED to a third term as President'. Not 'as POTUS or VP'. But 'as POTUS', specifically. And then also specifically added a 10 max total time for any one person, and specifically said 'if through succession'.
It's really pretty clear that this would not rule out Obama, Bush II, or Clinton ... from being a VP.
I think the 22nd authors did not want to rule out a former POTUS from serving in a role that COULD succeed to POTUS at some point ... i.e. VP, Speaker of the House, Sec. of State, and on down the line (and where WOULD you draw the line?). But they did mean to say 'you can only serve 2 more years, period' in that situation, should you happen to succeed.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden