Thu, April 10, 2008 - 5:58 PM

WASHINGTON -- Two Democratic U.S. senators, Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Claire McCaskill of Missouri, today introduced a "sense of the U.S. Senate" resolution declaring that presumptive GOP presidential candidate John McCain is a "natural born Citizen," eligible to run for president under the Constitution.

Their move comes after The New York Times published a report in February calling into question the legality of McCain’s presidential run. McCain was born to American-citizen parents stationed on an American Naval base in the Panama Canal Zone.

In a press release, Leahy explained: “Because he was born to American citizens, there is no doubt in my mind that Senator McCain is a natural born citizen. I expect that this will be a unanimous resolution of the Senate.”

“It is silly for anyone to argue that Senator McCain is not eligible to become president,” added McCaskill. “I would hope that this is something we can all agree on, for goodness sakes.”

-- Billy House

With seven months left until America chooses a replacement for President Bush, some of the candidates may wish they could reconsider a thing or two about the race.

Hillary Clinton has reconsidered her statement that she was under sniper fire in Bosnia when she was First Lady.

Barack Obama may have reconsidered his choice of a church.

And now that the economy is weighing heavily on Americans’ minds and wallets, John McCain may want to take a step back from his statement that he’s not an expert on the economy.

Despite – or maybe because of – the candidates’ missteps, the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia will take a look Wednesday at the process of electing an American president in a program entitled “The Presidency Reconsidered.”

The program will include some top names in Virginia and national politics. It is free and open to the public for all you policy wonks in the Charlottesville area.

-- Amy Dominello