Democrats clear path for McCain

By Susan Milligan, Globe Staff

WASHINGTON -- Is John McCain a real American?

Democrats think so. While they intend to work diligently to keep the presumptive GOP presidential nominee from winning the White House in November, they think he has the legal right to do so, even though he was born at a US naval base in the Panama Canal Zone.

The Constitution says a president must be a "natural born citizen,'' and questions have been raised about whether McCain's birthplace makes him ineligible.

Nonsense, said Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, who is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Leahy and Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri -- both of whom have endorsed Illinois Senator Barack Obama for president -- have introduced a sense-of-the-Senate resolution stating that McCain, who is a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War, is a natural-born American citizen.

Obama and New York Senator Hillary Clinton, who are engaged in a tough fight for their party's nomination, also co-sponsored the resolution.

"It is interesting to note that another previous presidential candidate, George Romney, was also born outside of the United States. He was widely understood to be eligible to be President. Senator Barry Goldwater was born in a U.S territory that later became the State of Arizona so some even questioned his eligibility. Certainly the millions of Americans who voted for these two Republican candidates believed that they were eligible to assume the office of the President. The same is true today,'' Leahy said.

Leahy said he expected the measure would be approved unanimously.

"Because he was born to American citizens, there is no doubt in my mind that Senator McCain is a natural born citizen," said Leahy.

McCaskill concurred. "It is silly for anyone to argue that Senator McCain is not eligible to become president,'' said McCaskill. "I would hope that this is something we can all agree on, for goodness sakes.''