I agree with you that this argument will not hold, but not because of the merits. Merits don’t matter, politicians will not touch this issue and would no more deny Obama his office than enforce the Constitution. Supreme Court Justices are just an odd sub species of politican in the final analysis.
Perhaps our Senators can put this issue behind them with a resolution for Obama akin to SR 511 that they all agreed to for McCain. Of course they might just choke on their proverbial wisdom since Resolution 511, based on considerable research of American law and litigation by Senatorial staff, determined that McCain was a "natural born" citizen because he met two vital requirements: both his parents were American citizens and he was born on American territory.
So then just who needs the Supreme Court now that our learned politicians have spoken and defined "natural born" with such certainty in this great Resolution of theirs. Perhaps we just need to remind and hold their feet to the fire.
How is it possible for this Senate of ours to unanimously adopt SR 511 on one hand and even think of calling Obama Mr President Elect on the other??? Are they all such transparent fools???
It will not hold because it is opinion, and opinion does not run this country. Laws do, the Constitution does, and the Supreme Court is tasked with interpreting the Constitution. Our laws do not differentiate between natural born citizen and citizen at birth. The Supreme Court says that with few exceptions children born in the U.S. are citizens at birth regardless of the nationality of their parents. Nothing in the Constitution itself conflicts with these interpretations. So Donofrio's claims hold no water. McCain is eligible to run for president because he is a natural born U.S. citizen, that status achieved through his parents. If Obama was born in Hawaii then he, too, is a natural born citizen and just as eligible to run for president, his father's nationality and dual citizenship regardless.