Are you for or against foreign-born citizens being able to run for President?

[Dolemite]

I know this news is a few days old, but it opens up an interesting debate...should the U.S. Constitution be amended to allow foreigners the chance to become the Commander-in-Chief?

Schwarzenegger for president?

Californians will soon see advertisements urging them to help give Schwarzenegger and other foreign-born citizens the chance to run for president.

The cable television ads, set to being running Monday, are from a Silicon Valley-based group that wants to amend the U.S. Constitution, which limits the presidency to people born in the United States. Schwarzenegger was born in Austria but became a U.S. citizen in 1983.

"You cannot choose the land of your birth. You can choose the land you love," Lissa Morgenthaler-Jones says in the ads.

She is a San Francisco Bay area mutual fund manager and major Schwarzenegger campaign donor who is helping pay for the ads and created a companion Web site.

Schwarzenegger, 57, has said he would consider running for president if the Constitution allowed but has not pushed for a constitutional change.

The TV ads mark the first significant attempt to build public support for an amendment. While polls show Schwarzenegger remains popular with voters, the idea of a constitutional change is not.

Four proposed amendments are circulating in Congress, but none has advanced. Constitutional amendments require congressional approval and ratification by 38 states.

This opens up all sorts of questions...I'm sure some people will worry about some terrorist plant eventually running the show, but the President is only one man, and really can't do that much on his own. Plus, if this does end up happening (I don't think it will), the candiate will have already undergone extensive checks on his background.

As for Arnold being President, while personally I think it would be fucking awesome to have the 7-time Mr. Olympia running the country, I just don't know how realistic it is. He has the highest approval rating of any Governor in California history and has gone some way towards fixing the problems there, but still has a long way to go towards making real change (budget problems like that can't be fixed overnight). Also, he's a hell of a lot more liberal than Bush. But while he's known to have incredible drive and focus and I'm sure he'd bust his ass if given the job, I'm don't know if he has the experience the office demands.

Eh, who cares. Arnold/Franco in 2008!

Still, I'm sure a lot of people would say yes just to have Arnold as President, without considering possible future ramifications of the amendment.

There are some very politically savvy posters here, so I'd like to hear everyone's opinion.

[Mman]

Sure, why not

[Bacon McShig]

Nah.

If we wanna play popularity contest, there are plenty of American-born celebrities that can run.

[RedCoKid]

Requiring the president to be US-born is a protection built into our Constitution so that nobody can hijack our country. Everyone has an instinctive loyalty to their country of birth, even if they become a US citizen. Amending the Constitution just because Arnold is popular would be dangerous to our future.

[Mman]

Do you actually believe that we are in danger of some evil foreign leader getting elected president?

[Wilykat]

I'm not against the principal of foreign-born citizens running so long as they've been a citizen for X-amount of years. I am somewhat cynical about some Republican circles trying to amend the constitution for one man. If Arnold weren't politically active, nobody would be trying to push this.

To be honest, I was against Schwarzenegger for governor during the 2003 recall, though I'm growing lukewarm on him lately. But he's only one year into his political career.

[Timber]

I'm not against the principal of foreign-born citizens running so long as they've been a citizen for X-amount of years.

That's basically how I feel. If you've been a citizen as long as Arnold has I can't see a problem with you running for the presidency.

Looks like Demolition Man may have predicted the future. Well somewhat at least, as much as I love Taco Bell I don't want them being the only show in town.

[Rocca]

Do you actually believe that we are in danger of some evil foreign leader getting elected president?

Bush is foreign? Hold on, while I put on my flaming rain coat.

[Mr-K]

Yeah, they would have to live in the country for a long time, like a really long time.

[Dolemite]

I agree that if it did happen, they should have to have been a citizen for at least 20+ years.