Barring a miracle that Huckabee is paying for, Senator John McCain will become the Republican nominee for President of the United States when the convention is held later this summer.
Not surprising since Romney drop out almost a month ago. But can Senator McCain become President? I can hear you left wing nuts already yelling at my blog that Senator McCain can’t touch Obma-mania which is sweeping the country. I beg to differ, but that is another blog for another day.
Per the United States Constitution and I quote from Article II, Section 1 – The President, “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.” What does this have to do with Sen. John McCain?
The public might not know this but Senator John McCain was born in Panama — another country or foreign land. Per the Constitution this prohibits Senator McCain from running for office. There is a catch… Sen. McCain was born on Coco Sol Air Base in then American-controlled Panama Canal Zone. Technically not on American soil, but on American soil. What?!?!
At a point when Senator McCain was born, the Panama Canal Zone was protected and administrated by the United States, basically a territory of the United States. The United States gave up control of the land and canal to the Panamanians in 1979. For the record, what a bad move by President Carter, anyway back to my point.
The question that needs to be raised — is government facilities and military bases outside of US soil (States and Territories) disqualify a person from running for President? Good question. If you look at the true intent of what our Founding Fathers were trying to create is to ensure that all foreign-born individuals cannot hold the most powerful office in United States government and being influenced by their “native land” in conducting policy. The Founding Fathers looked at how the monarchies in Europe were all related by marriage and used this influence in negotiating trade, conducting war, treaties, etc. The Founding Fathers did not what this occur in American politics. However, our dear Founding Fathers never envision that the US would have such a global presence with overseas military installations that we have today.
Personally I take the approach that military bases overseas have the same type of classification as US embassies which under diplomatic law are considered sovereign US territory or soil. If you take this approach, then Senator McCain has the right to run and win. However, I can see where some people (the far left) will interpret the language that Senator McCain can not run. So, before we get too far into the electoral process and not repeat the scenes from 2000 all over again, let’s get a Supreme Court ruling now before its too late. Let the games begin!
