Something to ponder on this Hawaii caucus night...
U.S. Constitution:
No person except a natural born citizen [...] shall be eligible to the office of President
What exactly does this mean?
McCain was born in Panama, and Obama in Hawaii.
Check out the Wikipedia page on "Natural-born citizen" for some interesting tidbits.
First, it seems there are two sides to the argument about how this phrase should be interpreted in regards to eligibility for the presidency, and the Supreme Court has never addressed it:
One side of the argument interprets the Constitution as meaning that a person either is born in the United States or is a naturalized citizen. Thus, to be a "natural born citizen," a person must be born in the United States; otherwise, they are citizens by law and are naturalized.[4] Current State Department policy reads: "Despite widespread popular belief, U.S. military installations abroad and U.S. diplomatic or consular facilities are not part of the United States within the meaning of the 14th Amendment. A child born on the premises of such a facility is not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and does not acquire U.S. citizenship by reason of birth."[5] To others, the statute that grants citizenship to American children born overseas exempts them from the term "naturalized" and thus, as with the 1790 law, they are to be considered "natural born citizens" eligible for the Presidency.[6] Examples of persons who become citizens at birth (whether "naturalized" or "natural born") would include: birth to Americans overseas, or birth on U.S. soil, territories, or military bases overseas.[7]
I didn't realize until I read this that John McCain was not actually born in the U.S.:
John McCain, who ran in 2000 and is running in 2008, was born at the US military base Coco Solo in the Panama Canal Zone to U.S. parents. The Panama Canal Zone was under United States sovereignty between 1903 and 1979 but was unincorporated.[9]
None of the candidates was elected, so it has never been fully addressed whether children born to Americans overseas are "natural-born citizens" and thus eligible for the Presidency. [8]
This Washington Post column on "Citizen McCain's Panama Problem?" examines the issue and some other historical candidacies that have raised this question.
But is he constitutionally qualified to become president? McCain was indeed born in the Canal Zone, and Article II of the Constitution plainly states that "no person except a natural born Citizen... shall be eligible to the Office of President."
Some might define the term "natural-born citizen" as one who was born on United States soil. But the First Congress, on March 26, 1790, approved an act that declared, "The children of citizens of the United States that may be born beyond sea, or outside the limits of the United States, shall be considered as natural-born citizens of the United States." That would seem to include McCain, whose parents were both citizens and whose father was a Navy officer stationed at the U.S. naval base in Panama at the time of John's birth in 1936.
Now, with Obama, born in Hawaii...
There are probably more people in Hawaii than you might realize who sincerely believe, with extensive historical and legal documentation to back them up, that Hawaii was never legally acquired by the United States, and that Hawaii isn't actually part of the United States (it is under prolonged illegal occupation most akin to that of the Baltic States during the cold war, which were then defined as "restored states" when they regained the effectiveness and recognition of their independent governments).
So, whatever you think of that, for those who hold that perspective, neither nominee for president will have been born in the United States!