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.
McCain’s birth certificate has “Republic of Panama” in big letters as part of the patterned background.
Nothing would give me greater pleasure to have him scrubbed as the Republican candidate. But he managed to get a Senate resolution passed - not yet an approved part of the Constitutional eligibility for President requirement - stating that a child born in a military hospital overseas to parents who are both U.S. citizens is a natural born citizen of the U.S.
Obama tried to have wording added to that resolution stating that a child born overseas to an unwed female U.S. citizen would automatically be considered a natural born citizen. Representative Caskil (D) - I may have her name spelled wrong here - tried getting the wording included but Ted Olson was on the Senate’s review committee and nixed the attempt. This information here was from an article posted on FreeRepublic but I can’t recover it and have no link.
How truly amazing it would be if both candidates were disqualified due to not being born here.