I'm just wondering because I don't hear any hue and cry (especially from Republicans) about Ted Cruz's eligibility to run for president. I know he is against the EPA, pro-life, against Obamacare, against Internet regulation, against minimum wage, and for a flat tax. However, you do also know he wasn't born in the U.S, right? He was born in Canada.
Please know I love Canada and I love the Canadians we've met.
However, remember the Obama Birther movement? Although President Obama was born in Hawaii to an American mother and it was all proven, birthers kept insisting he wasn't a natural born American citizen and therefore ineligible to be President.
And now there's Ted Cruz.
Here's what I got from Wikipedia, along with this photo.
Just curious.
However, remember the Obama Birther movement? Although President Obama was born in Hawaii to an American mother and it was all proven, birthers kept insisting he wasn't a natural born American citizen and therefore ineligible to be President.
And now there's Ted Cruz.
Here's what I got from Wikipedia, along with this photo.
"Cruz was born on December 22, 1970, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, where his parents, Eleanor Elizabeth Darragh Wilson and Rafael Bienvenido Cruz, were working in the oil business. His parents owned a seismic-data processing firm for oil drillers.Ted Cruz's mother was American just like President Obama's, but Cruz was confirmed to have been born in Canada. So can anybody explain to me why it's OK for him to run for president, but there are still people who feel President Obama was not eligible?
Cruz's ancestry is Spanish on his father's side and Irish and Italian on his mother's side. His father left Cuba in 1957 to attend the University of Texas at Austin, becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2005. His mother earned an undergraduate degree in mathematics from Rice University in the 1950s."
Just curious.
I didn't know that. Isn't that a little weird that nobody is saying anything at all about it? Of course, maybe it's because he doesn't have a prayer of becoming president. I hope, anyway. :-)
ReplyDeleteHe is not eligible definitely....so surprising he is running or is able.
ReplyDeleteOh, yes! I do hope he doesn't have a chance of becoming president!!! Politics just get more frustrating by the day!!!
ReplyDeleteI've wondered about this, too, but it seems as if I read he has dual citizenship, because his American parents were working in Canada when he was born. Either way, he's creepy. One of my cousins was born in Canada to American parents, so he had dual citizenship his entire life.
ReplyDeletegood question !
ReplyDeleteI suppose we will have to wait and see but I do believe the government makes the rules up as they go along, kind of like when we play Monopoly,,
Jean is correct. Ted Cruz had dual citizenship until he renounced his Canadian citizenship last year claiming he did not realize he had both. If he was really that dumb he's too dumb to be president. His mother was an American citizen the same as President Obama's mother was an American citizen, & Senator John McCain 's mother was an American citizen. Senator McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone. All are eligible to be president.
ReplyDeleteI believe if you are born to American citizens you are an American citizen no matter the actual place of birth. However, I am totally convinced Ted Cruz is a Disney animatron. That should certainly disqualify him for president.
ReplyDeletenot exactly, legally what qualifies "natural born" is loose. But before the whole Obama/Cruz thing, most people generally agreed you had to be born either in the USA, or in a territory where the US had control of now or at some point in time. John McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone which was under the U.S. control at the time, which is why not many cited that for him not to be able to run in 2008.
DeleteMissed your question completely. You will find in politics it's all about which party is in power & what serves the party best. Republicans questioned President Obama's birth until one of their own found himself in the same situation & then it was no longer an issue. Happens all the time.
ReplyDeleteunfortunately he is eligible to run. my son was born in canada and has dual citizenship. it's okay though, he won't get elected.
ReplyDeleteThe"birthers" sure know when to drop a subject. Nary a peep about Mr. Cruz. He is eligible to run as far as I know but then even if Obama had not been born in Hawaii he would have been eligible with an American mother. Like others, I hope he does not get the nomination.
ReplyDeleteWhen Ted Cruz became popular, that's when the birther movement got quiet.
ReplyDeleteGo figure. They can point and choose facing the wall, refusing to see the whole picture.
ReplyDeleteNo peeps out of Sarah Palin? That one was entertaining with her non sense. Can you imagine a ticket of Trump and Palin? Jon Stewart would come out of retirement for that one.
I am loving reading the responses as much as your post. The "birthers" will probably never stop questioning Obama's citizenship. They just hope the question about where Cruz was born won't come up. If it does, the Republican's will put some twist on it to make it look like a non-issue. In truth is is a non-issue because he was eligible for citizenship through his mother.
ReplyDeleteJust make sure you keep the guy. we don't want him. No offense taken here.
ReplyDeleteThe answer to your question is, of course, that he is a Republican. I have enjoyed reading these responses. He gives me the creeps too. And this just confirms why we are all internet friends with each other.
ReplyDeleteSeems that the US Constitution specifies that you have to be a natural born citizen or a citizen of the United States to be eligible to run for President. What's his face Cruz, carrying (at one time) dual citizenship, probably didn't need to renounce his Canadian citizenship.
ReplyDeleteIf he didn't though, people might have remarked on it.... perhaps? I never know how people will react these days.
DeleteYep, everyone answered correctly. Wake me when both parties are down to one candidate (or two) each. ;)
ReplyDeleteI have spent quite a while looking at all your lovely posts. I have been away from blogging as I was gone then I also had computer problems and hopefully this computer won’t crash again. Ted Cruz is dangerous because he gets a lot of financial help from billionaires and can then buy loads of misleading ads. But then so can Scott Walker, the governor of Wisconsin – he also gets a lot of money and is maybe worse than Cruz. Walker was the only one who said he was pro-birth in every case and is against saving the life of the mother.
ReplyDeleteR A C I S M .
ReplyDeletePBS had the whole ball of wax on the debate, wow whee, Donald Trump sure is getting to be a big blowhard. Not one of the other candidates could give him a punch at all, I felt Jeb Bush acted like a deer caught in headlights, This fellow Ted Cruz is a creep plain and simple..I thought Mark Rubio stated it succinctly he was raised paycheck to paycheck but was too polite to cast any definitive issue one way or another, Carly Fiorina gave them all a run for the money, but was on the second tier, I remember when the late President Reagan was on the debate and got really riled up and stated rather loudly I paid for this debate and yelled and got everyone's attention I knew he was going to the rodeo as the term was said, one cannot be a caspar milktoast candidate, I am not a republican but the democrats have to be aware of what is coming to the election and Hillary is now on the move plain and simple. If one doesn't have the means and I mean MONEY and the POWER in back of them they will not get to the rodeo..aloha in Hawaii we are still hotter than a pepper plant and humidity this iis mary from Vancouver Washington, I pray for rain daily and chant and meditate, many think we will get some but meterologists state this 100 year drought is not going away..grrrrr...just like the hullabaloo over the presidential election grrrr....ciao!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeletePersonally, I intend to vote for Hillary. I'm a registered Republican but have never voted the ticket. I try to do my homework and choose which candidate to vote for educated about their qualifications. Hillary is smart and has lots of experience. ..having been secretary of state. She knows the ropes. I have read all her books.
ReplyDeleteKay this is just the beginning of all the stuff that will come out about every candidate, and it will be up to us to try to work through all the "facts" to get to which one will be best for the presidency. But rally, Hillary? There is no doubt in my mind that she is the absolute worst for the position, when we can't believe a thing she says. I'm sure we will all be very tired of whatever we hear and see by the time even the primaries come around, let alone the election!
ReplyDeleteYou know I kept explaining to people that Obama's mother was born in Kansas, and even brought it up in class one night when the whole class began arguing about his origins. Cruz's mother was also an American citizen at the time of his birth. This is a specious argument. My objections to both of them has more to do with extreme politics. I could go over item by item each objection you list to Cruz and explain why I have a different perspective, but won't. I am for some things (am prolife) and opposed to othersthe president has little influence over any of these issues anyway. Congress represents the people in a Democracy, and the House is the most important branch of government. The President is an executive and his job is to enforce the law, not make it.
ReplyDeleteThe last almost-8 years of Obama's presidency have made me increasingly disheartened about humans. It woke me up to how far we still have to go when it comes to blatant racism. So many closed minds and hearts. Keep your eyes on Bernie, though. Mostly ignored by big media, but as of today he is ahead of Hillary in some polls. People are tired of lies and broken promises in this great country.
ReplyDeleteI hate to say it and don't think I need to why this is. I feel I am getting an education reading your post and all the responses here. I will be doing a lot of reading from here to the election. Someone already knocked on my door and left a political leaflet today, and so it begins.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that he was born in Canada...when I was studying to became citizen of US, in the booklet I read, only the people born in United State of America were allow to run for president (I don't remember the exact words) so he is not eligible, right? Anyway, still too early but I am not voting for Trump for sure.
ReplyDeleteGosh, from the other side of the world I can clear this one up. First please allow me the luxury of calling you all "low information voters"
ReplyDelete(After that):
To be eligible for the Presidency, a candidate must be a "natural born citizen" of the USA. That means a citizen at birth.
Being a country (one of the few) where being born on US soil makes a baby a citizen, this sometimes causes confusion. (Overseas diplomatic posts and military bases are considered to be US soil for the purpose of citizenship/birth - which made John McCain eligible).
If born overseas to a citizen parent or parents (in this case Canada) the bairn must be registered with the nearest US consular mission as being an American citizen.
Thus if Ted Cruz was not so registered (it would seem he was not) then he's not eligible. There is a grey area, where there is consideration that if the parent was a US citizen for 10 years or more before the birth, an overseas birth is automatically born a US citizen. (It must be noted this is a very contentious point, and will require one helluva court case to finally settle it) By that standard Cruz is eligible.
However: It must be noted that some big movers & shakers of the Obama birther movement (ie those who believed he was ineligible) are also saying Cruz is ineligible, and also some leading republicans are saying the same.
Donald Trump is also saying this.
It will only become interesting if Cruz gets anywhere near the candidacy for his party.
On that score y'all above should not be so swift to write him off. From what I can see he's not only a cunning fox, he's got a survival streak in him about a mile wide.
He's been cunning enough to not cross Trump. (Taking on Trump head-on seems to be the kiss of death to the republican wannabe candidates).
We'll see what happens. There's about a year of it ahead. You'll all be buried in it already. On this side of the world it is a news item halfway through the nightly bulletin, about every week or so.
I still read, though I've been super busy with work, and haven't commented for a while.
P.S. Don't anybody be too certain Mrs. Clinton will be the other candidate either. She's got a lot of baggage, and some credibility issues. And the current President & wife both loathe her with every inch of their being - they're not without clout in their party, and will likely do what they can to spike her.
Hi Steve! It's so great to hear from you! I've always thought people in other countries know so much more about our political process than Americans... Embarrassingly so. I know you're right on all counts, but I didn't think the Obamas were against Hillary. But yes, she does have a lot of baggage. I can't believe Trump is so high on the Republican polls. That scares me.
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