Ravenwood - 11/18/02 07:48 AM
I caught the end of a news story this morning, where Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs was mulling running for President. One major problem, is that he doesn't turn 35 until two days after election day. If the New Jersey Supreme Court were allowed to interpret our U.S. Constitution, they could easily just say that 35 actually means 34, but it looks like Puffy may need to wait until 2008 to make his run.
Another thing that puzzles me is Combs' 'alleged' illegal activity. I know he's been arrested for 'allegedly' exhibiting some violent behavior, but I'm not sure if he's ever been convicted. Mounting a Presidential campaign with such a record of lawful indiscretion is something that only say, Rev. Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson could pull off. Of course if Puffy downplays his run ins with the law, what will that do to his 'bad boy' music career? Also, would he want a job that only pays $400,000 a year?
It will also be interesting to see how Rev. Al handles this. Sharpton has already announced his intention to run for President in 2004, and Combs would appear to only get in the way. Will Sharpton latch onto Combs and mount a puppet regime, or will he simply squash Combs political aspirations the same way Clinton and McAuliff took away Andrew Cuomo's hopes and dreams?
UPDATE: I finally found a web story to back up the televised news segment I saw this morning. The NY Daily News reports that candidates must be 35 "prior to election." According to the New Jersey Supreme Court, 35 actually means 21 as long as the candidate is a liberal.
Category: Celebrities Unscripted
Comments (5) top link me
If he turns 35 after the election but before he's sworn in, that should be okay. You only have to be 35 to hold the office, I don't think the Constitution says what age you have to be at the time of the election.
If he does run, given his numerous brushes with the law, will he pick Don King as his running mate? Or maybe Johnny Cochran?
Posted by: Steve at November 18, 2002 9:34 AMI'm not sure if a candidate needs to be 35 by election day, or by innaugeration day. The U.S. Constitution isn't very clear about it either, but the News channel I saw the story on, made a big deal about his birthday being two days after election day.
If I can ever find a web-link, I'll add it.
Posted by: Ravenwood at November 18, 2002 9:43 AMHere's what the Contitution says about the qualifications for President:
Clause 5: No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, 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.
Even if you say that the person must be elligible at the time of election, that would apply to the Electoral College election.
Posted by: Steve at November 18, 2002 12:56 PMI checked the wording of the Constitution when I first posted the article and found it to be ambiguous.
While your interpretation seems pretty accurate to me, I didn't want to travel down that road. Who knows what, if any, federal court cases have addressed the interpretation of this article.
However, from a pure originalist point of view, I agree with you completely. (even if it does ruin my NJ Supreme Court joke)
Posted by: Ravenwood at November 18, 2002 1:02 PMSteve, I liked the NJ Supreme Court joke. It was on point, witty, biting and funny all rolled into one.
I was taking issue with the NY Daily News' report of what the Constitution says. I swear, sometimes I think the only part of the Constitution that journalists read is the First Amendment.
Posted by: Steve at November 18, 2002 2:42 PM(c) Ravenwood and Associates, 1990 - 2014
