The analysis of the Natural Born Citizen clause in the Constitution as it applies to Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio.
I promised to do this long ago, and did the research with the assistance of a former student, but couldn’t bring myself to actually write it up for multiple reasons:
(1) it’s a subject which brings out the most vitriolic commenters and e-mailers (hey, why don’t we talk about a non-controversial subject instead, like Islam or Gay Marriage?) and I haven’t been in the mood;
(2) views on the subject have become like religion, incapable of disproving;
(3) I’ve generally been distracted, with each week bringing some new “crisis” to write about;
(4) I’m lazy by nature;
(5) the process of relocating from RI to NY started in March and continued through July, and sapped what little free time I had;
(6) this isn’t actually my job,
(7) I’m lazy by nature (but I repeat myself); and
(8) bullet-proofing the analysis against the inevitable criticisms requires more painstaking drafting than normally takes place on the internet.
But it can’t be ignored anymore.
Scorecard via MoFo Politics:
If you’re keeping score at home…
- Congressional Research Office: Eligible
- Byron York: Eligible
- Temple University Professor Peter Spiro: Eligible
- Laura Ingraham: “Pretty sure”
- Chuck Todd: Undecided
- Donald Trump: Undecided
- Carl Cameron: Ineligible
- Birther Report: Ineligible
- [added by me] Drew M: Eligible.
I may disappear for a couple of days or more to avoid distractions, but I’m committed to getting this done and published prior to the start of the semester in late August.
NOTE ON COMMENTS: I have reviewed the 103 comments to the prior post, so please don’t re-post the same stuff. If you have anything truly new, feel free to post in comments here.
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