SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Californians will soon see advertisements urging them to help give Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and other foreign-born citizens the chance to run for president.
The cable television ads, set to being running Monday, are from a Silicon Valley-based group that wants to amend the U.S. Constitution, which limits the presidency to people born in the United States. Schwarzenegger was born in Austria but became a U.S. citizen in 1983.
“You cannot choose the land of your birth. You can choose the land you love,” Lissa Morgenthaler-Jones says in the ads.
She is a San Francisco Bay area mutual fund manager and major Schwarzenegger campaign donor who is helping pay for the ads and created a companion Web site.
Schwarzenegger, 57, has said he would consider running for president if the Constitution allowed but hasn’t pushed for a constitutional change.
The TV ads mark the first significant attempt to build public support for an amendment. While polls show Schwarzenegger remains popular with voters, the idea of a constitutional change is not.
Four proposed amendments are circulating in Congress, but none has advanced. Constitutional amendments require congressional approval and ratification by 38 states.
i think this ammendment should take place......we have at least 4 serious contenders at WA forum who think that they are equally capable to run the White House but because of their birth palce, they are not able to do so....:D :D and trust me i am not one of them...figure out yourself.....
Personally, I think Arnold will make a great President. Those who are in California or follow Californian politics closely will realize that he is no ordinary Action hero. He has a sharp political mind and knows how to effectively use his star power. Plus he is a lot more entertaining than all other professional politicians combined.
Having said that, I don't think the time is on his side. Its almost impossible to get a constitutional change brought around in 4 years, not to mention that this is not something which is high on anyone's priority list, anyway. Its more like a shot in the dark by some of his chamchays and chamchiyaaNs.
Changing the consitution is serious business (which is why making an amendment banning homos from marrying, is beyond insulting) but doing it because you think that Arnold should be President is really stupid.
Arnold would just use savings from his 20-year old movies and the ignorant masses of the states would eat it up.
“Yu gurlee men, I am from Caly phone yah. I’m here to pump yu op!”
Can you give some examples? I follow a lil bit of Californian politics, but as far as I can tell, he’s essentially done most of what one would expect from any Republican governor. Do you think if he weren’t a star from his previous life, anyone would be suggesting he had any qualification to run for President?
Why doesnt he practice first in hollywood, release a movie in which he is the president and let us decide he'll be any good; if so we'll take that corrupt supreme court judge (scalia)for duck hunting and have him change the constitution. BTW he was on larry king live last night and he sounded very good I must say. He went to Japan to promote tourism for CA and since people know him worldwide compared to lets say Gov Pataki (NY) he was able to drum up good tourism business.
