[edge919]

It doesn't really matter if they "both signed off" on it. Tribe's connection to Obama is biased. Unlike Tribe, Olson had no similar connection to McCain:

Republican presidential hopeful John McCain said Thursday the question of whether he can run for president, despite being born in the Panama Canal Zone, was put to rest 44 years ago in Barry Goldwater's campaign. McCain added that he doesn't know why his campaign sought legal analysis from former Solicitor General Ted Olson of whether his birth outside the continental United States might disqualify him from the presidency.

link

[kabar]

They were selected by the Senate to provide their opinion on the eligibility of McCain to be President, i.e., he was a natural born citizen. They opined that he was based on jus sanguinis. The Senate then issued a resolution affirming that McCain was eligible.

In their opinion, they also indicated that Obama was a natural born citizen based on jus solis.

Their opinion may not matter to you, but it did to the Senate, which affirmed it. More importantly, their opinion offered some insight as to how SCOTUS might rule on the definition of "natural born citizen." It is significant given the fact that both Tribe and Olson are recognized Constitutional scholars and have been considered as possible SCOTUS justices.

IMO the Democrats pushed for the McCain analysis so that it could act as cover for Obama who was mentioned in the Tribe/Olson report. There should have been a separate request to have Obama's eligibility scrutinized.