“NATURAL BORN CITIZEN:” “THE FIRST CRITERION ON THE LIST”
by Sharon Rondeau
(Oct. 1, 2015) — On Thursday, The Post & Email spoke with Democrat presidential candidate Cody Robert Judy, who told us that in the upcoming October 13 Democrat presidential debate, sponsors CNN and Facebook have published the criteria and rules which candidates must meet and agree to, respectively, in order to “receive an invitation” to participate.
The first criterion states that the candidate must “Fulfill the requirements outlined in Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution of the United States,” referring to clause 5 of the section, which reads:
“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.”
Judy currently has a challenge to Obama’s constitutional eligibility at the U.S. Supreme Court which was discussed in a second conference on September 28, from which the court will presumably respond to his request for reconsideration to proceed in forma pauperis.
Referring to the posted requirements, Judy said, “The important thing about the debate criteria is that the very first one is that a candidate must fulfill Article II, Section 1, clause 5. I’m the only candidate in America who is actually fighting for that.”
In 2008, Judy sued both Sen. John McCain and Obama on the issue of presidential eligibility. He continues to believe that Obama is not eligible and that openly discussing constitutional eligibility should occur in any presidential debate. “It’s the central, feature core of our constitution,” he said.
The second requirement listed by CNN/Facebook is that a candidate must have filed official documentation with the Federal Election Commission “by October 14, 2015.”
The third is that the candidate must have received polling results averaging at least 1% “in a combination of three national polls from among those that are recognized in this document.”
Pollsters which the sponsors are recognizing are listed as “ABC News, Bloomberg News, CBS News, CNN, FOX News, Gallup, Marist University, McClatchy News Service, Monmouth University, NBC News, The New York Times, Pew Research Center, Quinnipiac University, Time, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post.”
Judy would like to reach the 1% level by October 10, the last date on which poll results will be considered before the debate. “In order for me to be included, they have to mention my name,” he said. “I’m the only candidate in the United States who has Obama in the U.S. Supreme Court in conference on this issue. It’s noteworthy because it’s the first criterion on their list.”
“The qualifications for president are tougher than for representatives and senators,” Judy said, referring to the criterion of “citizen” for the latter, while the requirement for the president is stated as “natural born Citizen.” The term of art was finalized at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 after Founding Father John Jay wrote a letter to George Washington, who presided over the convention, about his thoughts on presidential criteria:
Over the last seven years, many have speculated that Obama is not constitutionally eligible because of his Kenyan-citizen father. Historically, the citizenship of the father determined the citizenship of the child, not birthplace. Most Americans understand that the “natural born Citizen” requirement means that a person must simply have been born on U.S. soil.
Obama claims a birth in Honolulu, HI on August 4, 1961, but documentation released by the Selective Service System and the White House, respectively, was declared in 2012 to be fraudulent by the Maricopa County, AZ Cold Case Posse, which has conducted a four-year investigation still ongoing.
“I think it’s ludicrous for them to refer to the Constitution and not accept the fact that representatives’ and senators’ qualifications are different than the president’s,” Judy said. They want to combine all of them when it comes to the citizenship qualification, but they acknowledge the distinction when it comes to the different age requirements.”
U.S. Representatives must be at least 25 years old, while U.S. Senators must be 30 to take office. The president must be 35.
Also on Thursday, Judy called the Supreme Court to inquire as to the disposition of his case but was told that a decision has not yet been issued.
Judy suggested that in order for his name to be included in the polling and then the debate itself, individuals can tweet stories written on the subject, including from Judy’s blog. “People can do that to “@CNN” or other news organizations. If you can get something to trend, that puts pressure on editors and reporters to write a story.”
Judy reminded us that a large number of articles expressing various viewpoints was written before the Supreme Court issued its decision in Obergefell v. Hodges on June 28.
Judy’s campaign website is here. He filed his statement of candidacy with the FEC in late July.
“My purpose is to raise awareness of the debate standards, inform Americans so they will understand how people get on the debate stage. If your name is not mentioned in the poll, you’re not gong to get on that debate stage. We have until October 10th to change that.”
“Regardless of the Supreme Court decision, I could be on that debate stage on the 13th if the poll included my name in it. If I can get on the stage, it will be a fantastic opportunity to have somebody representing Article II, Section 1, clause 5 of our Constitution,” he said. “Everyone needs to tweet all of the major media, and I might be able to make it happen. We want people to contact the mainstream media because it’s their poll.”
Judy further commented that “Republicans have a much greater problem with presidential eligibility than the Democrats” in the new 2016 campaign cycle, although he said that Fox News and Facebook, which jointly sponsored the first Republican debate on August 6, posted a similar qualification list which included the Article II requirement. “The top three candidates have not questioned the eligibility of [Louisiana Gov.] Bobby Jindal, [Sen.] Marco Rubio, and [Sen.] Ted Cruz,” Judy added.
Judy believes that the commander-in-chief’s sole allegiance to the United States is closely tied to the national security of the country.