McCain Addresses Presidential Eligibility Question

As we mentioned earlier, the New York Times ran a story this morning on the question of whether John McCain is eligible to be president of the United States.

The potential problem? The Constitution says that the office-holder must be a "natural-born citizen" – a concept that has never been fully fleshed-out in the courts – and McCain was born on a military base in the Panama Canal Zone. (His father, a U.S. Naval officer, was stationed there at the time.)

Now the Associated Press reports that McCain has commented on the issue. The presumptive GOP nominee argued the question of his eligibility was settled when Barry Goldwater, also an Arizonan, ran for president more than 40 years ago.

``Barry Goldwater was born in Arizona when it was a territory, Arizona was a territory, and it went all the way to the Supreme Court,'' McCain said. ``And there's no doubt about that. And it was researched again in 2000.''

``It's very clear that (the idea that) an American born in a territory of the United States whose father is serving in the military would not be eligible for the presidency of the United States is certainly not something our founding fathers envisioned," he added.

McCain attorney Ted Olson told the AP that people born to parents who are citizens qualify as "natural-born citizens."

``I am confident that the United States Supreme Court, should it ever address the issue, would agree,'' he said in a statement.