I will stipulate to LorenC’s timeframe on the two-citizen parent argument. I’ve been following the eligibility issue from the beginning. Leo Donofrio’s analysis was the first time I remember reading about that aspect of Obama’s eligibility.
To the question about why no one brought it up earlier when it was widely known that Obama’s father was a Kenyan, I believe the answer is that none of us had extensive knowledge of the definition of NBC, had researched the FF’s intent, or reviewed SCOTUS citzenship cases. I had always assumed that one must only be born here to be NBC, which would include anchor babies.
For a short while, many fell for Polarik’s trap (including me) and we were focused on that aspect of the issue. When I dug into the issue and came across Leo’s analysis, I was hooked. It made the most sense to me. And it still does. The two citizen parent definition also prevents anchor babies from being NBCs.
P-Marlowe brought it up at 246 a few hours into the thread:
[In reference to a discussion of the US statutory criterion for citizenship] Let us not forget that the US Code does not define the Constitution. The Constitution defines itself in accordance with the intentions of the framers.I am certain that the founders wanted to ensure that the president of the United States did not have mixed loyalties and hence the requirement of being a Natural Born Citizen would imply that the person must be born under the sovereign jurisdiction of the United States of America. I am not certain that simply because Obama's mother was a United States Citizen, that makes any child she bears while domiciled outside the United States a "Natural Born Citizen".