[JimC214]

I just love how they try to equivocate everything. Now McCain is not a citizen? Sheesh first of all both his parents were US citizens. So he could have been born on Mars. Same crap they use with the 2nd. Always finding hidden meanings in what they read.

[Brookhaven]

There is a difference between citizen and natural-born citizen.

The puropose of putting the natural-born citizen requirement in the Constitution, was that the framers were pranoid that some with foriegn ties or allegiences (of even the smallest kind) would become president.

The original meaning was that you were born on US soil AND your parents were citizens at the time or your birth.

Use this for an example. Two illegal immigrants from Mexico have a child while in the US. The child would be a citizen, but not a natrual-born citizen (and thus not eligible to be president.)

Can you see how tht child, if they ever became president, could have divided loyalties between the US and Mexico? There’s no gurantee that he would, but the framers wanted to avoid the possiblity of that type of conflict at all costs.

IMHO, McCain is a citizen, but not a natrual-born citizen (because he was not born in the US.)

[autumnraine]

Ironically, I just read an email from Congressman Johnson who says that Obama is citizen no matter where he was born because his mother was a citizen. Even though she wasn’t old enough. But somehow McCain’s definitely old enough parents didn’t qualify?

[AmericanVictory]

At the time the Canal Zone was part of the United States.