Since Senator John McCain was not born "in the United States" he is not a natural born Citizen of the United States and therefore is not eligible to the Office of President.
It's really quite simple, and only needs further explanation because the general consensus of politicians and the media has been to duck the issue. All evidence supports the conclusion seen in the topic sentence. Sources that support this conclusion include the U.S. Constitution which is the supreme law of the land, The Naturalization Act of 1790, The Naturalization Act of 1795, and the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty ratified for the construction and operation of the Panama Canal Zone.
John McCain was born on the sovereign territory of the Republic of Panama to U.S. citizen parents. McCain is a United States citizen due to parentage, not naturally by reason of birth on U.S. soil which is a basic constitutional requirement.
The ineligibility of John McCain to serve as president may not prevent his run for the office. However, he cannot hold the office. If he were elected president, legal challenges would be inevitable.
Without an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, it is unlikely the Supreme Court of the United States could rule in McCain's favor except by legislating from the bench. The more conservative side of the Republican party has typically represented the case for separation of powers with a louder voice than the more liberal side of the Democrat party. Have conservatives been gagged?
The sidestepping of this critical issue in the media, by the politicians, and the political parties is alarming and may lead to a national crisis in the event of a McCain win in the general election.
The Naturalization Act of 1790 that changed the definition for natural born citizen to include parentage was repealed by the Naturalization Act of 1795. Since then the constitutional requirement has not again been broadened to include parentage in the definition of natural born Citizen.
The Argument:
In presenting this constitutional dilemma, the purpose is to bring attention to the need for a remedy. This may also mean that the remedy would not be in place in time for Senator John McCain to be elligible to hold the office of President.
Not everyone who is born an American citizen is a natural born Citizen. To be a natural born Citizen one must be born on U.S. soil. Senator John McCain was not born on U.S. soil. This disqualifies him from holding the office of the president. He can run, he just can't take the office.
Some claim that the Canal Zone was a United States territory, leading them to the conclusion that McCain was born on U.S. soil. The evidence disputes that assertion. When the treaty was signed that gave the U.S. control of the Canal Zone, the territory was retained by the Republic of Panama.
The treaty to establish the Canal Zone clearly does not establish a U.S. territory. For any who would pursue that further, consider the definition of territory.
Any ruling that was made on the part of Barry Goldwater referring to his being born in a U.S. territory before it became a state is irrelevant to the case of John McCain being born in the Canal Zone which was never a U.S. territory.
A natural born Citizen is one who is born on U.S. soil. To be able to be Presdident of the United States, among other things, you must be a natural born Citizen. Since Senator John McCain is not a natural born Citizen (he was born outside the U.S.) it is by law that he was naturalized as a citizen at birth because of parentage. He was not a natural born Citizen based on the nature of where he was born.
Some may not agree with the Constitution of the United States, but it is what it is. It's the supreme law of the land.
If you don't like it, then change it through an amendment. But don't make it something that it isn't. That is a trick, not worthy of any American who stands by the constitution.
The Supreme Court needs to judge. That is why the Supreme Courts exists. Unfortunately, it is not likely to reach the court until one who is not a natural born Citizen gets elected to the presidency. This would be a crisis. The vice president would probably have to take over.
If Senator Claire McCaskill's hastily scrawled "fix" actually goes through congress, it is a law that would need to be judged by the Supreme Court of the United States. Unless it is an amendment to the constitution, then McCaskill (and congress) would be undermining the supreme law of the land that is the U.S. Constitution.
Apparently neither of these acts apply any longer. The first one was repealed by the second. And then the second was repealed in 1802.
Consider the act of 1790. It read, "And the children of citizens of the United States that may be born beyond sea, or out of the limits of the United Staes, shall be considered as natural born citizens..." This was a concession. They never were considered to be natural born citizens until this act.
In the act of 1795 that repealed the act of 1790 the language was changed to "shall be considered as citizens of the United States." It would seem that this change was by design, recognizing that nature did not make these babies citizens, it was only by law. The law cannot change nature. The term "natural born Citizen" could not apply to these people. It only applies to jus soli (where the place where one is born naturally determines citizenship).
I'm starting to feel bad about this for John McCain. He has come so far and to have the very nature of his citizenship to be questioned would be miserable, especially after heroic service. But he is seeking the one occupation that explicitly requires that the officeholder be a "natural born Citizen." This can only be changed by an amendment that changes the Constitution from saying "natural born Citizen" to something that would include him as eligible, though he is a citizen by jus sanguinis (citizenship by descent).
In presenting this constitutional dilemma, the purpose is to bring attention to the need for a remedy. This may also mean that the remedy would not be in place in time for Senator John McCain to be elligible to hold the office of President.