In other words, the assertion becomes that one could view Article II of the constitution as requiring the president be native born, and it would change nothing.
Why then, have both terms, if they are indistinguishable?
>> “Just thinking aloud, after skimming through the Wong Kim Ark majority opinion, that the prevailing wisdom (which I think is in error) holds that “native born” and “natural born” are and always have been synonymous.” <<
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You should read it again.
It holds exactly the opposite. That is why they coined a new term, ‘native citizen,’ rather than using an existing term that they recognized to have a decidedly different meaning.