Restoration of Caliphate Is Mainstream?

The following is from the Washington Post:

Reunified Islam: Unlikely but Not Entirely Radical
Restoration of Caliphate, Attacked by Bush, Resonates With Mainstream Muslims

"...The goal of reuniting Muslims under a single flag stands at the heart of the radical Islamic ideology Bush has warned of repeatedly in recent major speeches on terrorism. In language evoking the Cold War, Bush has cast the conflict in Iraq as the pivotal battleground in a larger contest between advocates of freedom and those who seek to establish 'a totalitarian Islamic empire reaching from Spain to Indonesia.'...

"Yet the caliphate is also esteemed by many ordinary Muslims. For most, its revival is not an urgent concern. Public opinion polls show immediate issues such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and discrimination rank as more pressing. But Muslims regard themselves as members of the umma, or community of believers, that forms the heart of Islam. And as earthly head of that community, the caliph is cherished both as memory and ideal, interviews indicate...."

"'I won't live to see it, and my children won't, but one day maybe my children's children will see someone declare himself the caliph, like the pope, and have an impact,' [said Kerem, a tailor in central Istanbul]...

"Caliph, from the Arabic word khalifa, means successor to the prophet Muhammad. Competition for the title caused the schism between Shiite and Sunni lines of the faith... "

Read the rest.