Schwarzenegger for President?
The AP, via Yahoo, has an article about a Silicon Valley-based group that is backing an ammendment to the constitution that would allow foreign born citizens the chance to become President. (Notice there is a difference between being born in the country and actually being a US citizen) Hmm, I’m not sure how I feel about that. As it says in the article: “You cannot choose the land of your birth. You can choose the land you love.” That makes sense to a point, and I would hate for a proven leader with a good track record, loved by the people, to not have the chance to lead the country just because he/she wasn’t born here. On the other hand, shouldn’t the leader of our country have been a US citizen their entire life, having been born and raised saying the Pledge of Allegiance, learning about our history, etc? But then again, some US citizens may have been born in the country, and then moved to another country. They could still run for President, though they weren’t necessarily raised on US soil. Maybe there’s some kind of compromise that can be settled on, such as the candidate needs to have been a citizen for x amount of years, and had y amount of years of political experience (on the local/state level). What are your thoughts on this issue?
Loading ...
an unused console won't have any problems!
Nov 14th, 2004 at 14:49:47
DO NOT CHANGE THIS.
That rule keeps someone from another country coming over here and causing problems.
Nov 14th, 2004 at 14:56:14
So allowing Schwarzenegger (or someone else) to come over here and be governor of California won’t cause problems?
Nov 14th, 2004 at 15:18:04
That is up to the states. Being Prez of the US is a little more significant than gov. of a state.
Nov 14th, 2004 at 15:25:57
I can see how it may not matter as much for some states like Rhode Island or Montana, but California, which has a GDP bigger than many countries? I would think that would be significant. Besides, even if a foreign born won the Presidency and wanted to cause problems, then he/she would still need congress to back him up, which would be tough in itself.
I wasn’t saying that someone could imigrate over here, take the citizenship test, and then run for President the next election. I don’t think that’s right. That’s why I thought setting a length of time that the candidate would need to be a citizen could help eliminate potential problems.
Nov 14th, 2004 at 16:45:14
Honestly, I don’t think it’s that big of an issue. Do you really think the US would elect someone who hasn’t been here long? I mean how many people here are suprised when a foriegner speaks English! So many people are ignorant and think that they are uneducated.. I can’t see them voting for them.
I don’t agree with these stereotypes, but let’s be honest, many Americans don’t know any better. Aside from that, I think it would be a good thing to have a president with experience in other countries. But then again, I think everyone should have some international experience…
Nov 14th, 2004 at 17:40:28
Well said, Ashlee
Nov 14th, 2004 at 20:05:00
Leave the constitution alone.
Nov 15th, 2004 at 10:05:50
I think it should be left alone. However, I agree with Ashlee on the point that the US probably wouldn’t muster enough votes for a foreigner to make a difference. But then again, what if a black, foreign, female ran for president. Maybe that would shock the population enough to get some votes? Nah..probably not
Paul
PS - I don’t think Arnold would ever make it in. Wasn’t he in an “adult” movie back when he started making films? Or maybe that was Sly Stalone.
Nov 15th, 2004 at 10:40:28
Not that I have seen the movie but I heard that Stallone was in adult movie/movies that is where the Italian Stallion name came from.
Nov 15th, 2004 at 10:51:02
I agree with Paul and Ashlee about not being able to muster enough votes. However the hispanic population is on the rise in this country and there could be the slimmest possibility that a person with a hispanic nationality could grab a lot of votes, nothing against hispanic people.
Personally I think the highest office in this country should be reserved for someone who was born here.
Besides with Schwarzenegger being President could be a bad thing. History tells us about the results of a leader who is born in Austria…(for those non history buffs I am referring to Hitler)
Heil Schwarzenegger (just kidding)
Nov 15th, 2004 at 11:01:01
It’s true there are a lot of hispanics here but not all of them are legal immigrants so not every hispanic you see is a voter. Anyway, I’m not worried about it.
Nov 15th, 2004 at 11:06:19
I’ve heard that the white male is actually close to being a minority in this country. Can’t remember where I heard that, but I can almost believe it…
Nov 15th, 2004 at 19:26:19
I have heard that as well Chris. And you want to know what makes up an even smaller percentage a white conservative college Christian. Supposively they do not exist anymore statistcally. About Arnold, I can see it many different ways. I’ll get back with a better comment later. Cause right now I want to leave work.
Nov 15th, 2004 at 22:13:48
Well, ya know 87% of statistics are just made up on the spot. So it’s kinda hard to tell.
Nov 16th, 2004 at 00:12:05
re: Italian Stallion
So the nick-name of a Stallone character in a Stallone movie (Rocky) came from a name he had in another movie?
Sounds kind of far-fetched. Unless you’re just not aware that the nick-name is Stallone’s character in Rocky, not his own personal nick-name.
Nov 16th, 2004 at 07:10:49
I thought it was 91% of all stats?
You making up numbers?!
Nov 16th, 2004 at 11:38:42
Maybe considering that he wrote the Rocky story maybe he put that nickname in the movie.