Politico Goes Birther On Sen Ted Cruz: Ignores Obama's Ineligibility; NBC?

[bsteadman]

Politico Goes Birther On Sen Ted Cruz: Ignores Obama's Ineligibility; Natural Born Citizen?

Birther Report
1/8/2013

Excerpt:

Ted Cruz draws presidential buzz, but is he eligible?
Excerpts By David Catanese @ Politico
[ Hat tip SA ]

Ted Cruz may have the aura of a future presidential contender, but is he even eligible to run?

The newly sworn-in Texas senator and rising Republican star was born in Canada, to a mother who was born in Delaware and Cuban father. That’s triggered a debate about whether he’s eligible for the nation’s highest office — nevermind that he’s been in Congress less than a week.

While there’s no legal precedent for Cruz’s situation, most constitutional scholars surveyed by POLITICO believe the 42-year-old tea party sensation would be OK. But there’s just enough gray area to stoke controversy, as Cruz learned during his campaign for Senate last year.

The U.S. Constitution states: “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…”

“The question ultimately is, What do we mean by a natural born citizen?” asked Yale law professor Bruce Ackerman.

“The problem is, no one knows what a natural born citizen is,” agreed University of Arizona professor Gabriel Chin, who argued in 2008 that Sen. John McCain was not eligible to be president. [...]

Laurence Tribe, a constitutional law professor at Harvard Law School and an adviser to Obama, said Cruz would be smart to prepare a more thorough explanation to put the issue to rest, much like the brief he prepared with Ted Olson that affirmed McCain’s eligibility. [...]

CONTINUED HERE: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/0...ble-85873.html

View the complete Birther Report presentation at:

http://obamareleaseyourrecords.blogs...-ted-cruz.html

[bsteadman]

Free Republic is running a thread titled, 'Ted Cruz draws presidential buzz, but is he eligible?', which was started 1/8/2013 by 'Seizethecarp'

The thread references a 1/7/2013 Politico article written by David Catanese - http://www.politico.com/story/2013/0...ble-85873.html

Ted Cruz may have the aura of a future presidential contender, but is he even eligible...?

The newly sworn-in Texas senator and rising Republican star was born in Canada, to a mother who was born in Delaware and Cuban father. That’s triggered a debate about whether he’s eligible for the nation’s highest office...

While there’s no legal precedent for Cruz’s situation, most constitutional scholars surveyed by POLITICO believe the 42-year-old tea party sensation would be OK.

“The problem is, no one knows what a natural born citizen is,” agreed University of California, Davis law professor Gabriel Chin, who argued in 2008 that Sen. John McCain was not eligible to be president.

Advisers to Cruz — a Harvard Law-educated appellate lawyer who has argued dozens of cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and knows a thing or two about constitutional law — say that because his mother had U.S. citizenship at the time of his birth, it transferred to him on foreign soil.

Temple University law professor Peter Spiro said Cruz has a “very strong argument” that he is indeed natural born.

While the 14th Amendment to the Constitution grants citizenship to anyone born inside the U.S., children born to American citizens outside the country attain citizenship through a law passed by Congress, according to Spiro.

“He’s a birthright citizen but his birthright citizenship derives from his parents, and the question is, does that fit with the definition of natural born citizen?” added University of Pennsylvania law professor Kermit Roosevelt. “I think it does.”

Chin, who authored a lengthy analysis on McCain’s citizenship, agreed that Cruz most likely is eligible.

Even though only Cruz’s mother was a citizen, there shouldn’t be a problem because it appears she had lived in the United States for at least 10 years, Chin said.

View the complete Free Republic thread at:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2976193/posts