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McCain birth stirs “natural-born” citizen debate
Sen. John McCain’s birth in the Panama Canal Zone has revived a long-standing debate over the constitutional requirement that limits the presidency to “natural born” citizens.
The problem is that the Framers never defined the term.
At least two lawsuits filed in federal court claim that McCain’s birthplace disqualifies him from becoming president. The issue has been simmering in the blogosphere for months, including discussions on prestigious legal forums. A Google search for “John McCain” and “natural born citizen” yields 57,000 hits.
McCain’s campaign advisers say they are not worried. The campaign commissioned prominent scholars from the political left and right to research the question and say they are confident that the senator from Arizona qualifies for the nation’s highest office.
His Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, agrees. So does the U.S. Senate, which passed a nonbinding resolution declaring that McCain is a natural born citizen, constitutionally eligible to run for president.
But Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University, said the question of McCain’s eligibility is a serious one.
“It is not clear whether a Panamanian-born citizen is a natural born citizen,” Turley said. “The meaning of the term ‘natural born’ is unresolved.”
Turley also said, however, that the current lawsuits questioning McCain’s eligibility will likely be dismissed as frivolous or premature.
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