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Friday, February 29, 2008 12:00 AM

A solution to McCain's Panama problem, with Obama's support

Claire McCaskill, a key backer of Obama's, introduces legislation designed to end any ambiguity about McCain's eligibility for the presidency.

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  • Friday, February 29, 2008 11:28 AM

    r1chard3: They already are US citizens ... and a phrasing issue.

    Children born abroad to one US citizen parent are US citizens, as long as their parent has lived in the US for a certain length of time. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_citizenship#Through_birth_abroad_to_one_United_States_citizen

    I don't think this bill is worded well. What about kids born to two US citizens while their families are on a day trip to Toronto? Under the original "natural born citizens" language, there's a plausible argument that they could become president. If this bill is passed, it would be reasonable to say that they CAN'T, because they weren't mentioned while military kids were.

    Why not just say that a natural born citizen is any person who acquires US citizenship at birth, rather than by naturalization? I've always thought that was the most reasonable interpretation of the "natural born citizen" phrasing anyway.

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