Hatch Backs Schwarzenegger, Says Foreign-Born Americans Should Run For White House

GOPUSA ^ | October 6th, 2003 | Jimmy Moore

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WASHINGTON (Talon News) -- Battered California recall candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger has received some unexpected support from Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch, who said the Republican gubernatorial candidate should be forgiven for his past indiscretions and even suggested that he should have the opportunity to run for president someday.

Hatch said the sexual misconduct allegations that have been thrown at Schwarzenegger by his political enemies since late last week happened so long ago that they are simply not relevant to the kind of governor he will be for the people of California in 2003.

"We have to look at people who they are today, not what they may have done wrong in the past," Hatch said on Friday. "There isn't a person ... in the world who is perfect, who has lived perfectly."

Schwarzenegger has previously supported Hatch when he was running for reelection to the U.S. Senate in 1994. Hatch's Democrat opponent, Pat Shea, accused Schwarzenegger at the time of showing cruelty towards women because of his male-dominant movie roles.

Hatch defended Schwarzenegger by characterizing him as a loving husband to his wife, Maria Shriver, who is a part of the famous Kennedy family.

"My experience with [Schwarzenegger] is he's a very nice man, very talented," Hatch exclaimed. "He's a very bright guy who is devoted to his wife and I know a little bit about the family."

Speaking tongue-in-cheek, Hatch referred to his Democrat counterpart in the Senate from the state of Massachusetts.

"As you know, I get chewed up all the time for being a friend of Ted Kennedy," Hatch joked.

Hatch believes Schwarzenegger is the perfect replacement for Democrat Gov. Gray Davis because he brings immediate leadership and toughness that has been sorely lacking in California.

"If [Schwarzenegger] gets the chance, he's not going to be a namby-pamby out there," Hatch argued. "I think you're going to find there's going to be some new leadership that a lot of other people might emulate in this society."

Although he introduced a joint resolution in the U.S. Senate in July that would allow foreign-born residents who have lived in the United States for at least 20 years to run for president before Schwarzenegger announced his candidacy, Hatch said he was not necessarily thinking of him when he was drafting the constitutional amendment.

Nevertheless, Hatch believes Schwarzenegger would make an excellent candidate for president of the United States someday if he is a successful governor.

"If Arnold Schwarzenegger turns out to be the greatest governor of California, which I hope he will, if he turns out to be a tremendous leader and he proves to everybody in this country that he's totally dedicated to this country as an American ... [then] we would be wrong not to give him that opportunity [to run for president]," Hatch said.

"The Equal Opportunity To Govern Amendment," or S.J. Res. 15, does not have any co-sponsors in the Senate and is currently under consideration by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

A House version of the resolution, H.J. Res. 59, was submitted in June by Rep. Vic Snyder (D-AK). His constitutional amendment would require a foreign-born presidential or vice presidential candidate to have been a citizen of the United States for at least 35 years. It currently has six co-sponsors in the House and has been referred to the House Subcommittee on the Constitution.

A constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress and ratification from three-fourths of the states in order to become law.

The last constitutional amendment to become part of the U.S. Constitution was the 27th Amendment, which prevents Congress from instituting pay raises in the middle of their term in office. It was first introduced by James Madison in 1789 and became law in 1992 when Michigan was the 38th state to approve it.

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Although he introduced a joint resolution in the U.S. Senate in July that would allow foreign-born residents who have lived in the United States for at least 20 years to run for president before Schwarzenegger announced his candidacy, Hatch said he was not necessarily thinking of him when he was drafting the constitutional amendment.

Well, well, well.

Here's the relevent clause of the Constitution that Senator Hatch would lke to amend...

Article II, Section 1
Clause 5: No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.
U.S. Constitution

The Founders understood that the Presidency places control of the Executive Branch in the hands of a single individual, and the potential peril of someone having divided loyalties. This lone Constitutional provision distinguishing naturalized from native-born U.S. citizens is a safeguard against a potential mole or "Manchurian Candidate" holding the Presidency.

I'm not questioning Schwarzewnegger's patriotism personally, but must we cast all caution to the winds in the name of inclusion or multiculturalism?

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[PRND21]

Boo to Hatch.

[Bikers4Bush]

Hatch is an idiot.

[Sabertooth]

((((((growl)))))

[EggsAckley]

I gotta draw the line at this one, Mr. Hatch. Too risky.

[Pearls Before Swine]

What a terrible idea. With the media/political/PC machine, this would give our next Manchurian candidate a real chance of being from Manchuria!

[Coop]

Not happy with something Hatch said? Just wait a week or two, and he'll say the opposite.

[dead]

If you put Hatch in a room with Arlen Specter, you couldn't find two brain cells to rub together.

[Bikers4Bush]

I don't know, I could swear he's been beating this particular drum for a month or two now.

[You Dirty Rats]

Uh-oh, stand by for the RINO charges against Senator Hatch.

Seriesly, though, I would hold off anointing Ah-nold as a future Presidential Candidate, even if the Constitution was amended to allow foreign-born candidates to run. Let's see how he does with the Governorship of California first (which as of today he has not yet won).

[tiamat]

*I* don't want that.

We might end up with "President Granholm"!

Tia

[Protagoras]

Once again Hatch has shown himself to be a whacko.

[Coop]

I don't know, I could swear he's been beating this particular drum for a month or two now.

Maybe he has. I really don't know. :-) I'm just playing the odds given some of his past performances.

[pgyanke]

Note to (R)nold supporters... this is what may be at stake in the future. You're voting for him to block Cruz... who will block (R)nold when the time comes? Is (R)nold the best example in the last 200 years of why this article to the Constitution should change? Don't see this happening in the future? Get real... did you see what is happening now in your crystal ball two years ago?

Parties don't run America, Americans do. Stand up, be a man (or a woman) and vote for the BEST CANDIDATE... not just the candidate endorsed by the party.

[Bernard Marx]

Hatch has turned into a truly frightening politician. His playing footsie with Ted Kennedy is bad enough. His role on the Judiciary Committee is critical and he seems to botch every opportunity to get conservative judges appointed. All I hear is tough talk combined with no action. I hope the voters of Utah take a hard look at him the next time he's up.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

"If you didn't like the original Schwarzenegger, try the new Hatch-backed version."

[TontoKowalski]

A House version of the resolution, H.J. Res. 59, was submitted in June by Rep. Vic Snyder (D-AK).

Alaska has one Representative. His name is Don Young, and he is a Republican.

[Servant of the 9]

Senator Hatch is in the same box as Senator Byrd.
Their families need to put them in a controlled facility before someone else files involuntary commitment papers on them.

So9

[skeeter]

Sure, Hatch is an insipid unprincipled flake but he sure knows how to dress sharp.