For example, there is nothing that compels you to view "dual citizenship" as relevant to a NBC status. You are not compelled to believe that an American citizen's eligibility to be president should depend on whether some foreign government chooses or doesn't choose to view the candidate as one of its citizens as well. Americans are not bound to consider the rules of some other government when choosing our presidents. Why do you think foreign governments should be permitted to manipulate our presidential selection by their decisions to view or not view our candidates as citizens of their countries? We have no control over how other countries choose to view our citizens.
Second, there is nothing that compels you to allow some eighteenth century Swiss philosopher to deter you from interpreting "natural born citizen" in the way most people living now and most people living at the time of our founding would have interpreted it. "Citizen at birth" is a common-sense construction for the the term "natural born citizen" - a construction that is much more natural for ordinary citizens. There is nothing that compels us to allow Vattel to define for us the pool of our eligible presidential candidates.
The obvious purpose of the NBC clause (coupled with the residency requirement) is to ensure that a president is selected from a pool of candidates who all have strong political connections to the United States by heritage and by personal experience (residence). Coupled with the residence requirement, a requirement that a candidate be a "citizen by birth" is more than adequate to protect us from strangers. The obvious purpose of the provision is to prevent the election of Prince Charles. It is not to disqualify the candidacy of an American like Ted Cruz.
You are of course free to choose what you wish to believe, but there is nothing about any of this that compels the choices you are making.
“Whoa! You have really got yourself tangled up in this stuff. Please understand that you are choosing to adopt the positions that you are adopting. None of this is compelled.
...
The obvious purpose of the NBC clause (coupled with the residency requirement) is to ensure that a president is selected from a pool of candidates who all have strong political connections to the United States by heritage and by personal experience (residence). Coupled with the residence requirement, a requirement that a candidate be a “citizen by birth” is more than adequate to protect us from strangers.”
Well, if “citizen by birth” was the criteria and would have satisfied the Founders, why didn’t they just say that? Why have they wasted all our time by using the term “natural born”?
So, what you’re saying is that you are choosing to believe that natural born citizen = citizen at birth = dual citizen at birth = triple citizen at birth = natural born subject at birth. And, that you’re not feeling compelled to believe that there’s a higher definition of natural born.
Okay by me. That’s the beauty of free will.