The hospital where John McCain was born was located on U.S. territory.
To be eligible one must be born within the physical boundaries of the United States or its territories.
Not true.
To be eligible one must be born within the physical boundaries of the United States or its territories.
That's what I always thought, but the Constitution doesn't say that. According to laws passed by the First Congress under the Consitution: "[T]he children of citizens of the United States that may be born beyond sea, or outside the limits of the United States, shall be considered as natural born citizens." So John McCain is a "natural born citizen" wherever he was born.
There is some question about whether McCain was born on US soil, though. The hospital at Coco Solo Naval Air Station was built in 1941, after he was born. But was there an earlier ward or hospital hospital there on the base or the submarine station before that? As we've seen it probably doesn't matter constitutionally, but if he were born on Panamanian territory somebody out there might care.
As for Obama, if someone could prove that his mother had gone to Kenya before he was born, this controversy would have better staying power. Simply to say she may have gone there and speculate on that basis isn't very convincing. It would have been a long trip in those days, and uncomfortable for a pregnant woman. Obama's mother also probably wouldn't have gotten a warm welcome from her husband's family and first wife.
Even if Obama acts like he has something to hide, it doesn't mean he was born overseas. If you weren't sure whether your parents had actually been legally married -- as Obama implied in his book -- you probably wouldn't want to release documentation about them either.