By wading into the ground zero mosque issue, President Obama provided Republicans with an emotion-ridden attack vehicle while diverting attention from campaign themes of fellow Democrats.
A senior Republican strategist said that GOP candidates are being encouraged to talk about the issue as much as possible.
Meanwhile, a House Democratic leadership aide said the issue was dominating the political conversation when Democrats need to stress campaign themes such as economic recovery and saving Social Security.
“We understand why the president would want to talk about this issue, but the timing couldn’t have been any worse,” the House Democratic leadership aide said.
The political sources spoke on condition of not being identified by name because they aren’t authorized to speak publicly on the issue.
For its part, the White House sought to tamp down the discussion Monday. Speaking to reporters, White House spokesman Bill Burton sidestepped a question on Republican strategy and tried to declare the debate over.
“The president didn’t do this because of the politics,” Burton said, adding: “I think that it’s a debate that was had, and we’ve weighed in.”
The topic dominated Sunday morning talk shows, with Republicans calling Obama insensitive for supporting the right of Muslims to build an Islamic center that would include a mosque two blocks from where the 9/11 attacks killed more than 2,700 people.
Some predicted political repercussions for Democrats in November’s congressional election, even though they agreed with Obama that freedom of religion is a vital part of American democracy.
“The Muslims have, as everyone else does, the right to practice their religion and they have the right to construct a mosque at ground zero if they wish,” Rep. Peter King, R-New York, said on CNN’s “State of the Union” program. “What I’m saying, though, is they should listen to public opinion; they should listen to the deep wounds and anguish this is causing to so many good people.”
Republican strategist Ed Rollins, a senior political contributor to CNN, summed up the GOP perspective.
“Intellectually, the president may be right, but this is an emotional issue, and people who lost kids, brothers, sisters, fathers, what have you, do not want that mosque in New York, and it’s going to be a big, big issue for Democrats across this country,” Rollins said on the CBS program “Face the Nation.”
On the same program, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine challenged the Republican logic.
“You know, we see an awful lot of Republicans going out and saying we’ve got to respect the Constitution, and that means we have to respect it,” Kaine said. “We can’t tarnish people’s First Amendment rights.”
Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a Democrat, said on the CBS program that the Islamic center issue shouldn’t have political resonance.
“I can’t imagine that any American — given the challenges facing this country — is going to vote based on what he said about the mosque,” Rendell said of the November election. “The mosque is an unfortunate situation, but we do have a right to practice our religion freely wherever we choose. Rights are not subject to the popular vote or majority vote.”
In a speech at a White House dinner Friday marking the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, Obama said Muslims “have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country.”
“That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in Lower Manhattan in accordance with local laws and ordinances,” he added.
The next day, Obama told Ed Henry, CNN’s chief White House correspondent, that he was “not commenting on the wisdom” of the project, just the broader principle that the government should treat “everyone equal, regardless” of religion.
His comments were considered by some to backtrack from what he said at Friday’s dinner, prompting a White House spokesman to further clarify the president’s remarks later Saturday.
Both the topic and Obama’s need to clarify his initial remarks evoked criticism from Republicans.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told “Fox News Sunday” that Obama’s stance demonstrated how “Washington, the White House, the administration, the president himself seems to be disconnected from the mainstream of America.”
“This is sort of the dichotomy that people sense, that they’re being lectured to — not listened to — and I think that’s the reason why a lot of people are very upset with Washington,” Cornyn said.
On the CNN program, King said Obama’s lack of clarity further muddied the issue.
“If the president was going to get into this, he should have been much more clear, much more precise, and you can’t be changing your position from day to day on an issue which does go to our Constitution, and it also goes to extreme sensitivity,” King said.
Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-California, accused Obama of diverting attention from a bigger issue — high unemployment — as the campaign heats up for the November congressional elections. Democrats are expected to lose seats in both the House and Senate, though it is unclear if their majorities in either chamber are at serious risk.
“Why isn’t the president spending the time debating about jobs instead of moving into New York?” McCarthy asked on the CNN program. “And why is he so insensitive about this area, as well, to engage in a local issue that’s causing a problem throughout the nation when the nation feels the sensitivity and a deep sensitivity to this exact location?”
Democrats responded that critics fail to distinguish between al Qaeda terrorists who carried out the 9/11 attacks and the Islam religion, which includes peaceful adherents all over the world, including the United States.
“It is only insensitive if you regard Islam as the culprit as opposed to al Qaeda as the culprit,” Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-New York, said on the CNN program. “We were not attacked by all Muslims. …. There were Muslims killed there. There were Muslims who ran in as first responders to help.”
The issue was one of personal rights, not political popularity, Nadler said, adding: “We do not put the Bill of Rights; we do not put the religious freedom to a vote.”
The House Democratic leadership aide lamented that the topic was getting so much attention.
“We were supposed to be talking about Social Security in this coming week,” the aide said, referring to Democratic criticism of Republican calls to privatize the government-run pension program. “This is a really good issue for us. And instead, we’re talking about the mosque.”
Obama’s remarks Friday drew praise from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who announced his support for the Islamic center last week. Bloomberg compared Obama’s speech to a letter former President George Washington wrote more than two centuries ago in support of a Jewish congregation in Newport, Rhode Island.
In the speech, Obama called the 9/11 attacks “a deeply traumatic event for our country.”
“The pain and suffering experienced by those who lost loved ones is unimaginable,” Obama continued. “So I understand the emotions that this issue engenders. Ground zero is, indeed, hallowed ground.”
The Islamic center’s leaders say they plan to build the $100 million, 13-story facility called Cordoba House two blocks from the site of the 9/11 attacks. The developer, Sharif el-Gamal, describes the project as an “Islamic community center” that would include a 500-seat performing arts center, a lecture hall, a swimming pool, a gym, a culinary school, a restaurant and a prayer space for Muslims.
Nearly 70 percent of Americans oppose the plan, according to a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released Wednesday.
“In a breathtakingly inappropriate setting, the president has chosen to declare our memories of 9/11 obsolete and the sanctity of ground zero finished,” Debra Burlingame, co-founder of 9/11 Families for a Safe & Strong America, said in a statement.
Other families of 9/11 victims said they support the proposed Islamic center and the president’s position.
“America, the concept and the people and the land thrive when we choose to trust in our principles rather than cave to our basest fears,” Donna Marsh O’Connor, spokeswoman for September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, said in a statement, adding: “What better place for healing, reconciliation and understanding than ground zero?”
This month, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission allowed the project to move forward by unanimously denying landmark status for the building where the proposed Islamic center would stand.
On Wednesday, the project’s developers declined an offer by New York Gov. David Paterson to relocate the project to a state-owned site.
