[lbo-talk] John McCain, born 1936 in Panama, says his own ampaign is checking into legality of POTUS run

[B.]

[This is odd, esp. because all the attention Barack
Obama gets because of his name/ethnic
background/religious allegations/etc. McCain,
unbeknown to me 'til reading this, was born outside
the US, in the Panama Canal Zone in 1936, when it was
a US territory. His own staff is making sure this
makes his candidacy Constitutional. Now, if McCain
weren't white, with his acceptable last name, how much
larger an issue might this be...? -B.]

McCain says citizenship a dead issue

By LIBBY QUAID, Associated Press Writer 
Thu Feb 28, 5:17 PM ET

RICHARDSON, Texas - Republican presidential hopeful
John McCain said Thursday the question of whether he
can run for president, despite being born in the
Panama Canal Zone, was put to rest 44 years ago in
Barry Goldwater's run for the White House. 

[...]

The Constitution says only a "natural-born citizen"
may serve as president.

McCain's campaign asked former Solicitor General Ted
Olson for a legal interpretation of the issue.

McCain himself insists the issue was put to rest when
his fellow Arizonan, Barry Goldwater, ran for
president in 1964.

"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 told reporters
Thursday on his campaign plane. "And there's no doubt
about that. And it was researched again in 2000."

The Panama Canal Zone was a U.S. territory at the time
of McCain's birth on Aug. 29, 1936.

[...]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080228/ap_on_el_pr/mccain_natural_born