Political Quotes

On the recordFebruary 28, 2008
In our Constitution, there are certain legal requirements to run for President of the United States. One of those is to be a natural born citizen. The article in the morning paper I read raised legal questions about the definition of 'natural born citizen.' Actually, it talked about an ambiguity that could be interpreted in a way that would mean a child of someone in the Active military, stationed somewhere around the world, could have a baby, and that baby could never be President of the United States. In fact, Senator McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone while his father was Active-Duty military in the Navy stationed in the Panama Canal Zone. Clearly, that is a notion that defies common sense and certainly offends all of our patriotism. I can envision someone actually being misguided and trying to bring some kind of legal action to determine whether Senator McCain should run for President. That would be a waste of public time and resources.
Said by
Chris Dodd
Democratic · Connecticut

Editor's note · Context

Discussing the legal definition of 'natural born citizen' in relation to presidential eligibility.

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