Who will be Mitt Romney's vice presidential pick?
With Romney having emerged months ago as the likely Republican presidential candidate, his choice for VP is one of the reamining pieces of intrigue this election season.
The New York Times breaks down some possible choices for Romney's running mate. Among them: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Flroida.
Other speculation has focused on former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who said last month it's "not in the cards," and ex-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Some have even suggested that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, , would be a good choice.
Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) have also been mentioned.
Romney hasn't indicated who he'll pick, though he did say earlier this month at a town hall in Ohio that his running mate will be "a conservative," CBS News reports.
Who do you think Romney should pick as his vice presidential candidate? Post a comment below.
Google natural born citizen brings a wikipedia resource that is helpful: "Status as a natural-born citizen of the United States is one of the eligibility requirements established in the United States Constitution for election to the office of President or Vice President. This requirement was intended to protect the nation from foreign influence. The Constitution does not define the phrase natural-born citizen, and various opinions have been offered over time regarding its precise meaning. A 2011 Congressional Research Service report stated The weight of legal and historical authority indicates that the term “natural born” citizen would mean a person who is entitled to U.S. citizenship “by birth” or “at birth,” either by being born “in” the United States and under its jurisdiction, even those born to alien parents; by being born abroad to U.S. citizen-parents; or by being born in other situations meeting legal requirements for U.S. citizens.........[1] The natural-born-citizen clause has been mentioned in passing in several decisions of the United States Supreme Court and lower courts dealing with the question of eligibility for citizenship by birth, but the Supreme Court has never directly addressed the question of a specific presidential or vice-presidential candidate's eligibility as a natural-born citizen." This resource gives help to your rationale, but Supreme Court has not spoken on this issue.
For those who may not know this, Edwin Meese was Ronald Reagan’s Attorney General, and the Heritage Foundation is a well-known Conservative organization.
6/11/12 The Supreme Court on Monday outright refused to hear an appeal that would challenge the legitimacy of President Obama’s citizenship and thereby his entire presidency. The countries highest court did not offer any comment as to why they refused to hear the “birther” appeal filed by Alan Keyes, Wiley Drake and Markham Robinson. In its ruling the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the challengers did not have the necessary legal standing to file the birther lawsuit against President Obama. Under the US Constitution a “natural-born citizen” is allowed to run and serve as the President of the United States. Challengers claim that President Obama was born to in Kenya and not in Hawaii as he claims. Those same opponents also claim that despite repeated testimony President Obama’s birth certificate is a forgery meant to dupe the American people. The court likely threw out the case after Hawaii’s own officials repeatedly verified Obama’s citizenship."
If you choose to ignore the Constitution, and its Fourteenth Amendment, and derivative court decisions and legislative actions during the intervening one hundred and forty years, please do not plague us with your aberrant tin-foil-hat views.
But as to Senator McCain, the principal problem for most Americans, including me, is that he picked a moron as his running mate. Even Dick Cheney is now admitting Sarah Palin was not qualified, and, as we have seen with three presidencies during the Twentieth Century (McKinley, F. D. Roosevelt, and Kennedy), and nearly saw with another (Reagan), a Vice President is occasionally called upon to instantly become President. I voted for McCain in the Primary of 2000, but there was no way I would vote for him (or anyone) with an incompetent running mate. We have had near-idiots before (Dan Quayle comes to mind), and we can afford to have one as VP if they are even modestly competent; but Palin was a special class of mega-idiot who would have been a danger to the American Republic. It had nothing to do with age. It had nothing to do with being born in the Panama Canal Zone, and not in one of the Fifty States. It was his moronic running mate. McCain had many good choices, but he failed in the biggest test, and therefore even millions of Republicans would not support him.
Please try to stay focused.
(Appreciate the intelligent posts too!)