McCain addresses birthplace questions

By Staff Writer, PinkNews.co.uk • February 29, 2008 - 1:30

An article in the New York Times on Thursday revisted the question of whether or not McCain is qualified to hold the highest office in the country.

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Arizona Senator John McCain has finally spoken out about persistent rumours that he is not a 'natural born citizen' of the United States and therefore not eligible to become President.

McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone and some have argued that under the definition of 'natural born citizen', he is cannot be president according to the U.S. constitution.

In an op-ed piece posted earlier this month, American Voice Radio's Francis Steffan stated that John McCain is not eligible for the position of President of the United States-because he is not a "natural born citizen" of America.

McCain was born August 29, 1936 at the Coco Solo Air Base in the American-controlled Panama Canal Zone, according to Wikipedia.com.

Both of his parents were U.S. citizens.

According to the U.S. constitution: "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."

Steffan's argument, he says, is based on the idea that the U.S. Constitution was written before America had bases on foreign soil and therefore the authors did not intend for foreign born children on such bases to be "natural born citizens" and thus McCain could only be a "naturalised citizen," which he states is not acceptable for eligibility.

An article in the New York Times on Thursday revisted the question of whether or not McCain is qualified to hold the highest office in the country due to his birth place.

According to the piece, McCain's campaign is preparing a detailed legal analysis to confirm his eligibility for the Presidency.

McCain, however, has no doubts about whether he qualifies under the definition of a 'natural born citizen.'

"Barry Goldwater was born in Arizona when it was a territory, Arizona was a territory, and it went all the way to the Supreme Court," McCain said, according to the Associated Press.

"It's very clear that an American born in a territory of the United States whose father is serving in the military would not be eligible for the Presidency of the United States is certainly not something our founding fathers envisioned."

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