Can Pres. Clinton be Kerry's VP?

[dunn]

For the record, KDS (you have my initials!), a vice-president has to be eligible to serve as president, and since clinton served 2 terms, he is not eligible to be president.

no

the XII amendment say:


the person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States

its about election by  the house, not by the people

[dunn]

Dunn,

I think the language is very clear.  "No person constitutionally inelligable to the office of President shall be eligable to that of Vice President of the United States."  It mentions the office, without any qualification of that requirement.  It doesn't say, "but no person constitutionally inelligable to the office of President may be selected Vice President of the United States."  The "But" at the beginning of the sentence and the fact that the sentence comes just after the description of how the Vice President is to be selected if no one recieves a majority of the votes in the electoral college does cause some confusion, but I don't believe that changes what it means.  Since the sentence dealt with limitations to the office, I feel it takes effect no matter how the Vice President is selected, and that the "But" at the beginning of the sentence merely existed because the sentence limited the choices for both the electors and the Senators.

I guess I may have said the same thing several times, but I wanted to give the most comprehensive argument possible.  You are definately entitled to your opinion, however.

Not that it really matters, although it might since today's courts will sometimes let the spirit of a law trump the letter, but I hope you agree that the people who wrote the 11th amendment intended for the office of Vice President to be limited to those who were eligable to the office of President.

Sincerely,

Kevin Lamoreau

Kevin
It's matter of interpetation, the intention might be clear but the phrasing is not. I know some legal people and an american studies proffesor who think an ex 2 term president can be vp but can not stands for elections if taking office as president.

[dunn]

It does.

says you. some people do think that it does not

[dunn]

And just because somwbody writes a legal paper don't mean anything at all. You'd need to show me a court decision.

right!

[dunn]

I believe all tied candidates would be on the ballot.

I do so too

[dunn]

Looking at the text again, I guess you're right. Two parties tied for second place would thus mean that House and Senate could each choose among three candidates.
But what if three parties tie for second place?
Say-
Rep 268
Dem 90
Green 90
Moore (ind) 90
Then they'd have to vote for Bush for president but would have four options for VP!?

good point.
and there could be (not today with 538 but in the 19th century) a situation with 4 candidated getting the same amount of ev
ie: 1872 with 352 electors could have gone 89 each. what's then?

[dunn]

when the constitution was written there was still no 2-party system

in 19 elections 1789-1860
8 times there were 4 or more ev winners
2 times three

so they didn't do that good work on that clause


 

[dunn]

exectly. Tell that to the guys in the other thread

[dunn]

If he became president after 1/20/1999 (midlle of thr term) he can