Here's a way I thought Clinton could be president again

[CTLawGuy]

I guess you could call it a loophole in the U.S. Constitution, but here goes...

(If you know of anything that closes this loophole, let me know)

1. Dems take control of the House of reps and the senate in 2006.
2. They elect Bill Clinton speaker of the House (NOTE: The House has the right to make ANYONE speaker of the House, not just a house memeber. I learned this as an intern at the US Capitol.)
3. Bush and Cheney are both impeached, and according to succession rules, the Speaker of the House becomes President. There are no bars to becoming president in this manner. (It doesn't say the Speaker has to be eligible to be president.)
4. Clinton becomes president. He cannot run again of course, but he can serve out the rest of Bush's term.

Note: I am not thinking this will happen, so please don't say it'll never happen. I just think it is an interesting scenario, and I wonder if anyone can contradict it.

(Note, see post 21 below)

[justinsb]

1. All you would have to do

is elect person A persident and Clinton VP in 2008 then have person A resign, do the same thing in 12 etc...he can only be ELECTED PRESIDENT twice, he can be elected VP forever.

[RevolutionStartsNow]

5. Yep, this is much easier

Clinton/Clinton '08! Now I might vote for Hillary if her running mate was Bill!

[CTLawGuy]

11. you can't be elected vice president

if you can't be elected president.

It says so in the Constitution.

[Jack Rabbit]

2. 22nd Amendment

Here is the text of the 22nd Amendment:

1. No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President, when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.

2. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission to the States by the Congress.

[El Fuego]

7. "...no person shall be ELECTED to the office..."

There's the loophole. He could theoretically assume the office, without having been elected.

[Jack Rabbit]

26. Technically, you're right

However, there will be challenges to the move and it might be easier to avoid that.

Besides, if we're going to remove Bush and company (I don't think the impeachments should stop with Bush and Cheney), then we will need Republican votes in the Senate.

I'll settle for President Pelosi, thank you.

[El Fuego]

3. Sounds like a plan.

I like the way you think.

[ldf]

4. you know? i used to worship the ground he and hillary walked on.

but hindsight is MUCH closer to 20/20.

there are too many current disasters taking place that he helped put into motion.

he is a GREAT speaker, and makes one desperately aware of the lack of intelligence in the current occupant of al gore's whitehouse.

but his time has come and gone.

he needs to continue to work on the international scene. and i don't think he seriously wants the job again. wanting to be the nation's "first husband" is another situation, though.

as far as that goes, i also think hillary should stay in the senate. she could become the successor to ted kennedy as the senate's leading progressive. she could be a major pain in the ass for the republicans for decades to come, not just her 8 years in the whitehouse. she is too polarizing to be elected president. the repubs would LOVE to have her as the dem nominee.

just my .02.

[The Doctor.]

9. I believe that would be

"First Gentleman"

[ldf]

24. point well taken...

:spank:

[FLPolitico]

33. Hillary is no progressive

she is self-serving twit just like her husband. I still can't get over when she said that her vote on the Iraq War was the toughest decision she ever had to make. I'm sure it was because she had to guess if the war would go well or badly.

We need Democrats who have real principals not principals that only last as long as public opinion supports them.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

6. Why in the world would we want another republican president?

Oh, wait..he has a (D) after his name.

[justinsb]

13. Good question

But I'm in Canada now so - it's up to you all. I can still vote, and will likely vote for whoever gets a D after their name (within reason) but I'm not coming back.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

28. Lucky you! Wish I could say the same.

Alas, being retired and not a millionaire, we are stuck here in Reich.

[Sapphire Blue]

8. Yeah, we need more policies like NAFTA & welfare reform.

:sarcasm: If Clinton had been a 'legitimate' Republican president, the Repubs would be screaming to have his image carved into Mt. Rushmore by now.

[CTLawGuy]

12. relax

its more of an academic excercise than anything else...
Let's not let it degrade into a discussion over clinton's merits.

[Sapphire Blue]

17. Then we shouldn't let discussions degrade into considering Bush's merits

... (or lack thereof), either.... or Jeb's, or Rice's, or Frist's, etc., etc. :sarcasm:

[CTLawGuy]

18. dude,

what you said made no sense.

My post was about a way a person who is ineligible to be president might become president. To turn it into another topic is not appropriate. If you want to talk about how much you hate Clinton, start your own thread.

[Sapphire Blue]

22. I could call it 'Here's a way GWB could be president again', using your OP

Let's see how that one would go over.:sarcasm:

[CTLawGuy]

23. It would go...

"Could that be possible?"

here's why...

here's why not...

[Sapphire Blue]

25. Go ahead & post it

[CTLawGuy]

27. Jeez, you are angry today

it's saturday, go to the beach or something.

[Sapphire Blue]

29. Good idea

peace :hi:

[CTLawGuy]

30. the sun will be up til 9pm

let us take advantage.

[AX10]

10. Kick, Kick, Kick!

[onehandle]

14. It's time to let that fantasy rest. nt

[CTLawGuy]

15. did you read the last part of my post?

I guess not.

[FrannyD]

16. I don't want him back either

I lost all respect for him, watching him pal around with the Bushies, after the tsunami, the opening of his library, etc. We can do better... and will!

[Must_B_Free]

19. if Cons removed term limits, would B. Clinton beat Bush in 2008?

[bicentennial_baby]

20. Ugh, no thanks

He can take his neo-liberal triangulation and shove it, imho

[Deja Q]

31. I'm with you. He's the best prez the repukes ever had. And remember,

no good deed goes unpunished.

[CTLawGuy]

21. loophole closed

I looked in the US code: 3 USC 19

" (e) Subsections (a), (b), and (d) of this section shall apply
only to such officers as are eligible to the office of President
under the Constitution. Subsection (d) of this section shall apply
only to officers appointed, by and with the advice and consent of
the Senate, prior to the time of the death, resignation, removal
from office, inability, or failure to qualify, of the President pro
tempore, and only to officers not under impeachment by the House of
Representatives at the time the powers and duties of the office of
President devolve upon them."

----------------

Looks like they restricted succession to people actually eligible to be president.

Subsections (a), (b), (d) refer to what officers get to succeed upon the death or resignation of the president.


heres the link: http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/3C1.txt

[FLPolitico]

32. Why can't you people get over Clinton

he's yesterday's news and the Democratic Party will be better off if we stop clinging to the Clinton years because they are really nothing to be proud of.

What will it take you to understand that Clinton's politics and compromises is what has put the Democratic Party in the shape it is today. All of us thought that things would be ok as long as we had a Democrat as President. The Clinton presidency only prolonged the fact the realization that the Republicans are much better organized and have a much better, more effective media apparatus.

Furthermore Clinton's two terms left the Democrats without an identity. The unions were destroyed in the aftermath of NAFTA and we are still paying for it in so many ways especially so our identity as the party of the middle-class was destroyed and that left an opening for the Republicans to inject their fake family values platform.

[CTLawGuy]

34. who's "you people"?

are you lost my friend?