The ‘birthers’ are nothing new: a historical perspective
I just sent this e-mail to my dad, but decided to add it here:
I am not one of the people who think Obama was born in Kenya (and not sure if I care), but this Reuters article is interesting, detailing basically the same controversy in the past and on the Republican side:
In a paper in November aimed at clarifying presidential eligibility, the Congressional Research Service declared that the practical, legal meaning of “natural born citizen” would “most likely include” not only anyone born on U.S. soil but anyone born overseas of at least one parent who was a U.S. citizen.
I’m completely OK with this definition. If I were born while my mom was abroad but was mostly raised in the United States, I don’t see any reason I shouldn’t be able to run for president once I’m 35. Certainly I would be better positioned than someone born on U.S. soil to Kenyan or Mexican parents and who was then raised exclusively in that other country since his earliest memories, but who would definitely be eligible to run for the U.S. presidency.