Day 43: birth certificate squabbles
Updated on 09 December 2008
Monday 8 December 2008: proving eligibility for office and rallying the markets.
The Supreme Court has dismissed a challenge to Barack Obama's eligibility to be president. It's the second such case they have thrown out.
In the most recent case, New Jersey voter Leo Donofrio claimed that Obama's father was a British citizen when Obama was born, meaning he was not a "natural-born" US citizen and therefore ineligible.
He also claimed that John McCain was also ineligible because he was born in the then US-controlled Panama Canal Zone.
The previous case was brought by Pennsylvanian lawyer Philip Berg who alleged that Obama was born in Kenya - his father's native country.
The internet furore over Obama's birth during the election led his campaign team to release his birth certificate online, but this did not silence the critics who believed it to be a fake.
However, the certificate inspected by Factcheck.org shows that Obama was born in Hawaii two years after it became a US state. Obama's birthplace was also confirmed by the director of Hawaii's Department of Health on 31 October.
Although there were no new announcements from the president-elect yesterday, his influence was being felt around the world.
Markets across the globe surged on Monday after Obama promised over the weekend that a large fiscal boost to the economy will be one of his priorities after his inauguration.
Even the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was up 6.2 per cent.
Finally, although Barack Obama will not be in the White House before Christmas, he may pick up a few tips from his predecessor on how to get into the festive spirit.
George W. Bush was joined by Nathaniel Miller from the Sweet Heaven Kings to perform Christmas carols at a children's holiday reception in the East Room of the White House.
