Panama John?

[LuckyTheDog]

Feb. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Republican presidential candidate John McCain's birth in the Panama Canal Zone is raising some concerns about whether he can legitimately seek the presidency, the New York Times reported.

The Constitution states that only a ``natural-born citizen'' can serve as president, the Times said. McCain was born on a military installation in the Canal Zone in 1936, where his mother and father, a Navy officer, were stationed, the Times said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=apbg9.XKhWbs&refer=us

[tyne]

1. Claire's got him covered...

WASHINGTON — Senator John McCain said Thursday that he had no concerns about his meeting the constitutional qualifications for the presidency because of his birth in the Panama Canal Zone. A Democratic colleague said she wanted to remove even a trace of doubt.

The Democrat, Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri, introduced legislation that would declare that any child born abroad to citizens serving in the United States military would meet the constitutional requirement that anyone serving as president be a “natural born” citizen.

“In America, so many parents say to their young children, ‘If you work hard and you play by the rules, in America someday you can be president of the United States,’ ” said Ms. McCaskill, a supporter of the presidential bid of Senator Barack Obama, Democrat of Illinois. “Our brave and respected military should never have to spend a minute worrying whether or not that saying is true for their child.”

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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/29/us/politics/29mccain.html?_r=1&ref=us&oref=slogin

[LuckyTheDog]

2. And yet

I still want to be known as the guy who first started calling him "Panama John McCain."

[Mass]

3. Sorry, what about kids born abroad from other American parents?

If she writes a law, it should be for all of them. Writing a law for American parents from the military potentially discriminates other kids.