In politics, never say never

PETER BUFFA

It is the highest office in the land and the most oval by far, to say

nothing of that grand old desk and the very cool rug. I’ve had the

privilege of visiting it, and I can tell you, it takes your breath

away.

These days, the question at hand is, of course, who should be

sitting in it -- President Bush? President Kerry? How about President

Schwarzenegger?

If Rep. Dana Rohrabacher has his way, that just may happen, though

it won’t happen fast. The U.S. Constitution welcomes you and me and

everyone else who wants to run for president of this great nation to

do so, provided you and I and everyone else are at least 35 and a

natural-born citizen. But this week, Congressman Rohrabacher proposed

a constitutional amendment that would also allow foreign-born

citizens to go for the brassiest of political brass rings, as long as

they have been U.S. citizens for at least 20 years. There’s no

denying that Dana had the Governator in mind when he made his

proposal, but it isn’t all about Arnold.

“I’ve been in awe of Arnold’s terrific job as governor of

California,” Rohrabacher said. “I just decided that if Arnold does a

great job in California, continues to do a great job in California,

he should be given a chance, perhaps, for that leadership at a higher

level, and if it’s true for Arnold, why shouldn’t it be true for

anyone that comes here as a naturalized citizen and has been a

naturalized citizen for more than 20 years?”

OK, I’ll bite. Why not?

Come with us now to that long, hot Philadelphia summer of 1789,

when Washington, Adams, Franklin and company were working nights and

weekends inventing a brand new country. When they got to Section 1,

Article 2 of the New Country Owner’s Manual -- “Election,

Installation and Removal of President” -- here’s what they said: “No

person except a natural born citizen ... 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.”

Actually, as someone who attained to the age of thirty-five years

a lot of years ago, I am not too keen on the idea of someone who has

yet to wrinkle becoming President. Then again the average life

expectancy at the time was about thirty-eight and a half, so that

could explain it. Be that as it may, what’s good enough for George,

John and Ben is good enough for me, and that’s where things have

stood ever since.

The idea of an American Prez who is not American-born may be hard

to process, but is it really beyond imagining? What if the Wright

brothers listened when people told them “It’ll never fly,” or asked

Cary Grant to drop the third “Judy,” or said “baloney” to Marconi?

Answer me that.

Think back to when you first heard that Arnold Schwarzenegger was

running for governor. “Governor of what?” you said. “Certainly not

California.” People giggled and snickered and laughed.

“Arnold’s OK and I love that ‘I’ll be back’ line,” they said, “but

he wasn’t born here, and that accent. Oh my, that accent.”

A few weeks later, Schwarzenegger roared past his 135 opponents

like George Patton on his way to a fight. The 37th governor of

California was an Austrian-born, ex-Mr. Universe-movie-star-action

hero-Republican activist, married to a network reporter who is JFK’s

niece and Joseph Kennedy’s granddaughter. Try explaining that in your

candidate’s statement. Some more Arnold jokes? Anyone? I didn’t think

so. If his name magically appeared on the ballot this November, and

the choices were Bush, Kerry and Schwarzenegger, how many of you

would bet against Arnold? I wouldn’t.

So what are the prospects for Dana’s proposed Constitutional

amendment? In two words, “un-likely.” Despite their terrible fashion

sense, the Founding Fathers were as smart as the dickens. When they

invented a nation, they weren’t kidding, and they made sure anyone

who wanted to amend the Constitution would have to do some very heavy

lifting.

An amendment requires a thumbs-up from both houses of Congress and

three-quarters of the states, which is about as likely as O.J.

finding the real killers. There are a boatload of Constitutional

amendments proposed in Congress every year, most of them not worth

considering and some of them downright bizarre. One of the amendments

proposed in 2002 would have revised the Constitution to prohibit

putting someone in jail for traffic offenses. It did not go far.

Obviously, some member of Congress was a terrible driver. Will there

ever be a president of the United States who was not born in the

U.S.A., Bruce Springsteen notwithstanding?

Maybe. But no time soon. Still, “never say never” is always good

advice, and nowhere more than politics.

When Jesse “The Body” becomes the governor of Minnesota, Gopher

from “The Love Boat” turns up as Congressman Fred Grandy, and Zelda

Gilroy from “Dobie Gillis” is State Senator Sheila Kuehl, never goes

out the window

I gotta go.

* PETER BUFFA is a former Costa Mesa mayor. His column runs

Sundays. He may be reached by e-mail at [email protected].