No, Vattel was merely giving the circumstances under which citizenship is universally and/or naturally recognized. He said the citizenship of the child naturally follows the condition of the father and that the place of birth is nothing but the place of birth. That said, his definition of natural born citizen, which has been used and affirmed by the Supreme Court, is all children born in the country to parents who are its citizens. For those children born at sea or in the Armies of the state, they are reputed to be born in the country. If they are born to citizen parents, this means they are natural born citizens.
As for McCain’s place of birth, three different sources place it at the base hospital at Coco Solo: his mother, a contemporaneous newspaper account (unlike Obama’s birth announcement, it says EXACTLY where McCain was born); and a Washington Post reporter who said he saw McCain’s birth certificate as presented to him by a McCain staffer. The birth certificates presented in the Hollander v. McCain case are neither original, doctor-signed certificates. If they are genuine, they are most likely abstracts that may have been filled out incorrectly. Neither parent signed these certificates either.
One more thing, the Colon Hospital was operated by Americans (military, I believe). It’s quite possible that the doctors there did double duty between Colon and the base hospital (which was more of an infirmary when McCain was born).
Yeah, I remember following the controversy during that election, and seeing the document online, which (I think) was completed in handwriting.
I thought the action by Congress was a weird deal, unnecessary, and only raised suspicion. I tended to believe that his parents military duty placing them in Panama granted him NBC status.
It was equally weird that they didn’t vet Obama at all.