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To: elhombrelibre

Article II Section 1 Clause 5:
No Person except a natural born Citizen,
or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution,
shall be eligible to the Office of President;
neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years,
and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

The clause “or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution,” gives a strong clue to what was meant by “natural born Citizen”.

The founders were (almost) all born in the colonies that became the United States.
So if being “born on the land” determined natural born citizenship they would not have need the “at the time” clause.

The founders were (almost) all born to parents who were Subjects of the British Crown.
So if being born to foreigners, in the territory that became the United States, were enough for natural born citizenship they would not have need the “at the time” clause.

By this simple analysis of the Constitution using it own language and simple logic, one can conclude that a person born in the United States from foreign parents can not be a “natural born citizen”.
So Marco Rubio is clearly ineligible to be President of the United States under the original intent of the Constitution.

To handle the case of Ted Cruz, one has to look at what determined the nationality of parents at the time of the founding. All original evidence says that the wife took on the nationality of her husband.
All the evidence we have it that Ted Cruz’s father was a Cuban citizen at the time of Ted’s birth, and that both mother and father were legal residents of Canada.
So applying the original intent of the Constitution, then Ted Cruz is not a natural born citizen of the United States, and therefore not eligible to be President.

Of course, if one wants to abandon “Conservative Principles” in this one instance, and say that the original intent is obsolete, then one could say they are both eligible.
But, to by honest, you would have to admit you were a “Liberal” and not a “Conservative”


34 posted on 02/22/2016 9:05:02 AM PST by SubMareener (Save us from Quarterly Freepathons! Become a MONTHLY DONOR!)
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To: SubMareener

The clause was actually carefully drafted to exclude Alexander Hamilton from the office. Anyone else excluded was collateral damage.


41 posted on 02/22/2016 9:12:57 AM PST by PAR35
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