Why doesn't the Senate just declare Obama a natural born citizen

[ben_meyers]

like they did for McCain and put an end to the birth certificate nonsense?

[Wizard777]

1. He is natural born. But Mcain may not be.

[gullwing300]

2. What nonsense? He was born in the USA

:wtf:

[goodhue]

3. He is a natural born citizen; no need for a decleration

McCain on the other hand has a genuine problem

[bdamomma]

12. McCain was born in Panama on a naval base.

[goodhue]

13. indeed

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/us/politics/28mccain.html?ref=politics

[caledesi]

4. Obama was born In Hawaii! NT

[whistle]

5. Obama was born in Hawaii correct,, so why would he not be considered a citizen?

[pegleg]

6. why am I even paying attention to this thread?

[madokie]

15. Just as I was coming to reply number 6 the same thought came to me

why am I reading this bull. Hello pegleg and have a great afternoon :-):hi:

[magellan]

7. They are both US citizens

Neither would have been considered as candidates if they weren't.

Consider the source of the claim and give it the attention it deserves: ZERO.

[jobycom]

16. It's not just a question of citizenship.

First, I doubt each state checks out a candidate very thoroughly before putting them on a ballot, especially in a primary election or caucus. The requirement to be a "natural born citizen" is a federal one, and states don't decide federal issues of law, anyway. But the winner would have to answer any legal challenges before being confirmed by Congress as president, as Cheney did with his state residency in 2000.

Now, Obama, unless he lied about his birthday (or place of birth) has no problems, and can easily put any legal questions to rest by producing his birth certificate to whatever legal authority challenges him (not necessarily to the public). Unless someone can prove he lied, there's no issue there. The real danger for him is that the Republicans will continue to argue that his birth and early history is mysterious because he's hiding some radical Muslim past.

But McCain, according to past precedent and state department rules, is not a "natural born citizen," as the Constitution requires. He is a citizen, no question, but through his parents, not his place of birth. The terms are not clearly defined in the Constitution or in late 18th century law, though, so there's no certainty of what the Founders meant, and as with Cheney's state of residency, the SCOTUS is likely to rule whichever way the people voted. State department rules and law cannot override the Constitution. So it's probably not an issue, in any real sense, but someone could (and probably will) challenge him in court on it, but I doubt SCOTUS would rule against him.

It would be stupid of Obama to do raise the issue, though, unless he was sure he could win. Obama is clearly not above doing this--that's how he won his first election, by getting all his competitors removed from the ballot over technicalities. But if Obama wasn't sure he could get McCain removed, it would be stupid to try and fail, because no one in the military--and not many outside--would support a candidate who argued that someone should be excluded from the presidency because their parents were serving the military overseas when they were born.

[magellan]

18. I stand corrected

...and agree, challenging McCain on this would be a silly risk for Obama to take.

OTOH there's no reason we foot soldiers can't counter RW 'Obama's a muslim' attacks with 'McCain isn't a natural born US citizen as required by the Constitution'. Distract the buggers with a little taste of their own medicine.

[jobycom]

19. Hey! That's not bad.

That might be a good distraction to their distraction. Put them on the defensive, especially since our points are true, and theirs complete fabrications.

[Wcross]

8. You can expect more nonsense like this until election day.

It's called "grasping at straws". Most intelligent people will see it for what it is. Others who believe it wouldn't have voted for him anyways (the not so bright among us).

[krispos42]

9. Don't feed the trolls or their memes

Hawaii statehood: Aug. 21st, 1959. Obama birthday: Aug. 4th, 1961

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3420229

[bowens43]

10. Why would they need to that?

[Starbucks Anarchist]

11. He was born in Hawaii.

The Senate doesn't have to do shit.

[Ikonoklast]

14. I like pie.

What?

[jobycom]

17. It wouldn't be binding on Obama or McCain, IF there were a question.

First, on Obama, unless someone can prove he lied about his birthday or place of birth, it's not an issue, so the Senate doesn't have to rule anything.

Second, on McCain or Obama, the Senate cannot declare that a Constitutional requirement be ignored. Only an Amendment can change a Constitutional requirement.

On Obama, this is just a Republican attempt to make his birth seem more mysterious and scary, and maybe to give them a counter-attack in case someone raises McCain's eligibility. You know how Repubs are: "So what if my candidate murdered a million innocent people, your candidate got a blow job, so he's worse." They'll apply the same logic to the citizenship question: "So what if my candidate is Constitutionally forbidden to be president, yours was barely eligible, so he's worse."

[ben_meyers]

20. I guess I thought everyone was aware of the attempt to smear

Obama, including a piece picked up by the NY slimes today. The Senate did pass a resolution for McCain.
It just seems that it's one more distraction that he doesn't need.

Rumors to Rest
By Tobin Harshaw

Tags: Barack Obama

Good advice from the enemy? Jim Geraghty of National Review’s Campaign Spot blog thinks Barack Obama would be wise to release his birth certificate, thus quelling “unlikely” rumors circulating on the right side of the Web.
Rumor one: Obama was born in Kenya. Rather unlikely, as it would require everyone in his family to lie about this in every interview and discussion with those outside the family since young Obama appeared on the scene. However, if it were true, it would probably raise a major question of “does he qualify as a natural-born citizen”? If Obama were born outside the United States, one could argue that he would not meet the legal definition of natural-born citizen under because U.S. law at the time of his birth required his natural-born parent (his mother) to have resided in the United States for “ten years, at least of which had to be after the age of 16.”
Ann Dunham was 18 when Obama was born – so she wouldn’t have met the requirement of five years after the age of 16.
(Interestingly, apparently there isn’t much paperwork on Obama’s parents’ marriage. Obama: From Promise to Power, page. 27: “Obama later confessed that he never searched for the government documents on the marriage, although Madelyn (Obama’s maternal grandmother) insisted they were legally married.” Also note that Obama’s father apparently was not legally divorced from his first wife back in Kenya at the time, a point of contention that ultimately led to their separation.)
Rumor Two: Obama’s middle name is not “Hussein” but “Muhammad.”
As Politifact notes, all available public records going back to 1991 refer to the candidate as “Barack H. Obama.”
It is theoretically possible, if not plausible, that Obama changed his name at some earlier point in his life, as he was sorting out his issues of culture and identity. But this would mean that Obama recognized how emotionally-charged the name “Muhammad” would become in American life long before the 9/11 attacks. And if you’re going to change your middle name from that of the central figure in Islam because you fear controversy, picking the last name of the highest-profile anti-American dictator in the Middle East (Saddam) doesn’t seem like a huge improvement.
Rumor Three: His mother did not want to name him after his father, and his birth certificate says “Barry.” Perhaps the most plausible of the rumors, as Obama was known by that name through much of his childhood and young adulthood. If true, this would spur a new round of “When Barry Became Barack” stories – a minor headache for the campaign, but hardly a major scandal.




http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/10/rumors-to-rest/?ref=opinion