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I’m not talking about citizenship. One can be a naturalized citizen like a friend of mine originally from Japan, or be a child foreign born, say in France, to U.S. citizens which would make that child a citizen of the U.S.

But to be eligible to become President of the United States one MUST have been born within the boundaries of the U.S. (this is a requirement spelled out in the U.S. Constitution), or one of its territories (parents in the territories must both be U.S. citizens). A child born inside the U.S. is automatically a U.S. citizen, and therefore could become president even if his/her parents are not U.S. citizens at the time of his/her birth.

The problem for Senator Obama is if he were born outside the U.S. on foreign soil. It would make him ineligible to be President even if he’s a citizen because of his mother. We’re talking about two different things.

I hope this has clarified issues for you. If not you could contact CongressmanBillyBob. He’ll explain it better as he is a Constitutional scholar and lawyer.

The problem for Senator Obama is if he were born outside the U.S. on foreign soil. It would make him ineligible to be President even if he’s a citizen because of his mother.

John McCain was born in Panama -- both mother & father were American citizens. Is he eligible?

I challenge that reading of natural born. My understanding based on Blackstone and English common law of that time — which is the time when the Constitution was written and thus informs intent, is that BOTH parents have to be citizens at the child’s birth.

But to be eligible to become President of the United States one MUST have been born within the boundaries of the U.S. (this is a requirement spelled out in the U.S. Constitution), or one of its territories (parents in the territories must both be U.S. citizens).

Not true. The Constitution uses the term "natural-born" but fails to define it. Congress gets to define "natural born", and they've defined it such that McCain is included. The Naturalization Act of 1790 stipulates, "the children of citizens of the United States that may be born beyond Sea, or out of the limits of the United States, shall be considered as natural born Citizens".

Under the Fourteenth Amendment, anyone born on US soil to parents other than diplomats or members of an occupying army is included, whether Congress likes it or not. That takes care of, for instance, Bobby Jindahl, whose parents were grad students from India, should he ever decide to run, or should McCain choose him for VP.