http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/yes-ted-cruz-was-born-canada-so-what-n329516
Yes, Ted Cruz Was Born in Canada. So What?
Less than twelve hours after Senator Ted Cruz’ announcement as an official contender for the presidency of the United States, familiar questions of nationality began pouring in; this annoying distraction was an all too familiar rant reminiscent of Donald Trump’s attacking quarry of President Obama’s birth citizenship. In the article written by Carrie Dann of NBC News, she reports on the interview of Senator Cruz by FOX News host Sean Hannity, “You were born in Calgary, in Canada,” glancing into the camera for an apologetic chuckle. “Is there a birth certificate issue?” The senator explains that he is the son of a natural-born American mother and he was born in Canada. The article goes into great detail to derail the American public’s concern over this issue by stating the many politicians whose citizenship was in question (most recently our President) and yet were dispelled. However, the interesting part is that Senator Cruz announced that he only discovered in 2013 that he held a dual citizenship with Canada, and quickly relinquished. It is interesting to correlate the information in Denton and Kuypers’ Politics and Communication in America’s chapter 9 on Presidential Campaigns. The argument that, “ the formal criteria for becoming president as set forth in Article 11, Section 1 of the Constitution are threefold: natural born citizen, at least 35 years old, and a resident of the United States for 14 years” (p201). The interview clearly states that Senator Cruz is a natural born citizen; however, it does not clarify how to determine the legality of his dual citizenship for the past 42 years. As stated in the textbook, the requirements for presidency have made substantial changes since WWII, and yet the average American citizen still has no clear explanation about the candidate’s basic requirements. I think this speaks more to our willingness to go with the popular vote rather than actually following our own written constitution; many of the voters remain misinformed or simply no longer care about the United States Constitution as it stands.
I heard about this story soon after Cruz decided to run for the Presidency. When I was in school we taught the constitution and that being a “natural born” citizen meant that one had to be born inside the United States. I do think it is interesting how conventional thought is challenging this opinion. Truly what constitutes a natural born citizen?
All that being said, I think there are more elements of Cruz looking to improve his image by denouncing his Canadian citizenship. What is more American than a half American denouncing his dual citizenship when he says “Nothing against Canada, but I’m an American by birth and as a U.S. senator, I believe I should be only an American”
I agree with you, so what if he is born in Canada. The scary thing is that many do not know the requirements to presidency. What does that say about our educational system? Are people just forgetting what they learned or where they not taught this at all? I clearly remember learning about how long a president’s term is four years and how times they can hold office and I even remember learning about the natural citizen, at least 35 and a resident for 14 years. So are people just that willing to forget it and jump on what everyone is saying or has our education system failed us?