Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Earth Science News .




DEMOCRACY
Bush v. Gore; Cruz v. Constitution
by Harlan Ullman
Washington DC (UPI) Apr 08, 2015


disclaimer: image is for illustration purposes only

Remember the 2000 presidential elections? Vice President Al Gore won the popular vote. But for thirty-one days after the election, no one knew whether he or Texas Governor George W. Bush had prevailed in Florida winning the needed electoral votes that would determine the nation's 43rd president. "Hanging chads" and the spectacular hair-do of Florida's Secretary of State Kathleen Harris dominated the news as Republicans and Democrats took to the courts to determine the winner.

Both sides filed three separate lawsuits. Finally, the most critical case of Bush v. Gore was decided by a 5-4 decision in the Supreme Court. Divided among along party lines, the decision stopped the recount of the hotly contested Florida vote that the Texas governor had won by the narrowest of margins. Bush was awarded Florida's electoral votes and on January 20th, 2001 became president.

Could this happen again? To be elected president, there are four and only four qualifications. The person must be 35 years of age; have resided in the US for at least 14 years; and win a majority of electoral votes -- we still do not directly elect our presidents as Al Gore's defeat confirmed. The fourth and final requirement is that the president must be "a natural born citizen."

In the specific context of the presidency, neither Supreme Court decisions nor case law have produced a definitive definition of what "a natural born citizen" means although established law grants citizenship to offspring of U.S. citizens born abroad. The unresolved issue is whether by extension a foreign-born American citizen is constitutionally qualified to become president.

George Romney, former governor of Michigan and father of presidential aspirant Mitt, was born in Mexico. His campaign for the presidency quickly failed and hence the issue was untested. The 2008 election however raised this question of birthright for both candidates -- Senators John McCain of Arizona and Barack Obama of Illinois.

McCain was born in 1936 at Coco Solo Naval Station in the Canal Zone. Technically, Panama still maintained sovereignty over the Canal Zone although the US controlled it. Interestingly, McCain's grandfather commanded the naval base and his father was executive officer of a submarine stationed there.

In 2008, a New Hampshire resident, Fred Hollander, filed a law suit contesting McCain's qualification for the presidency on the grounds he was not "a natural born citizen" since the Canal Zone was technically not U.S. territory. However, in 1937, Congress had passed a law that would have qualified such individuals to serve as president. And in 2008, the Senate passed a non-binding resolution declaring McCain qualified as a natural born citizen.

McCain lost and the point was moot. And, of course, the brouhaha over candidate Obama's place of birth became the rallying cry of right wing fringe elements. Obama was the child of an American mother and Kenyan father. That he was born in Hawaii made little difference to the "birthers." However, this argument becomes hotter should Texas Senator Ted Cruz win the Republican nomination -- no matter the likelihood.

Cruz was born in Calgary, Ontario in Canada to an American mother and Cuban father. Eventually the family moved to Texas. Cruz would give up his Canadian citizenship in 2014. Now suppose Cruz won the nomination. Is he constitutionally qualified to be president?

Certain Republicans were happy in 2008 to challenge Obama's natural born citizenship status with an American mother and foreign father -- exactly the same situation for Mr. Cruz. So how might they react to establishing the presidential qualifications of the firebrand senator? Since consistency and hypocrisy are two sides of the same political coin, no doubt the GOP will ignore this contradiction. Yet it is interesting that this question of qualification has not arisen so far.

Nonetheless, given the bizarre and bitter nature of American politics today and the relevance of a 226 year old document to the 21st century, a repeat of Bush v Gore in 2016 with a Cruz v Constitution petition is not entirely unimaginable.

_________________________________________________________________________

Harlan Ullman is Chairman of the Killowen Group that advises leaders of government and business and Senior Advisor at Washington DC's Atlantic Council and Business Executives for National Security. His latest book is A Handful of Bullets: How the Murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand Still Menaces the Peace.


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


.


Related Links
Democracy in the 21st century at TerraDaily.com






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle




Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News





DEMOCRACY
Nationalist landslide in Scotland holds key to UK vote
Edinburgh (AFP) April 8, 2015
Scottish nationalists are preparing for landslide election gains at the expense of Labour next month but also holding out the offer of a pact that could put the centre-left party in power. "Scotland's voice at Westminster has always been very quiet, in fact it's been completely muted because the strings have been pulled by UK Labour," said Carol Monaghan, an Scottish National Party (SNP) can ... read more


DEMOCRACY
Aid agencies ready for Yemeni refugee influx in Horn of Africa

Chemical plant blast, anti-pollution protest in China

Radiation from Fukushima detected off Canada west coast

Germany snubs Greece's war reparations call as 'dumb'

DEMOCRACY
Camera chip provides superfine 3-D resolution

British military gets simulator training system from Selex ES

Sewage could be a source of valuable metals and critical elements

From tobacco to cyberwood

DEMOCRACY
We can fix the Great Barrier Reef

Report lists Grand Canyon's Colorado River as most imperiled

How many organisms do live in this aquatic habitat?

Turkmenistan pledges to curb water use

DEMOCRACY
Alaska animals could experience habitat change from warming climate

Western Canada to lose 70 percent of glaciers by 2100

Sea Shepherd in dramatic rescue of Antarctic 'poaching' ship crew

Warming: Canada glaciers to shrink by 70% by 2100

DEMOCRACY
Fishing amplifies forage fish collapses

Liquid corn, fish fertilizers 'good options' for organic blackberry production

EU to simplify GMO import approval: sources

Study points the way toward producing rubber from lettuce

DEMOCRACY
Costa Rica volcano throws up fiery rocks and ash: authorities

Typhoon Maysak melts away as it hits Philippines

Haiti floods kill six, damage thousands of homes

Chile's Bachelet visits flood-hit north after 25 killed

DEMOCRACY
Pygmies demand end to discrimination in DR Congo

Nigerian president quits voting station after tech glitch

Regional troops retake Nigerian town from Boko Haram

Nigerian army chief vows crackdown on election unrest

DEMOCRACY
The rest of the brain gets in the way

If your kid hates school, it just may be their genes

'Little Foot' 3.67 million years old

How we hear distance




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.