What I Really Meant Was. . .

Politico:

Obama's comments take mosque story national
By: James Hohmann and Maggie Haberman and Mike Allen
August 14, 2010 12:52 PM EDT

President Barack Obama on Saturday sought to defuse the controversy over his remarks on plans to build a mosque near Ground Zero, insisting that he wasn’t endorsing the specific project but making a general plea for religious tolerance toward all.

"In this country we treat everybody equally and in accordance with the law, regardless of race, regardless of religion,” Obama told reporters Saturday when asked about his remarks at a White House dinner marking the start of Ramadan.

“I was not commenting and I will not comment on the wisdom of making the decision to put a mosque there,” Obama continued. “I was commenting very specifically on the right people have that dates back to our founding. That's what our country is about. And I think it's very important as difficult as some of these issues are that we stay focused on who we are as a people and what our values are all about."

But his comments Friday night were widely interpreted as an endorsement of plans to build a mosque a few blocks away from where nearly 3,000 Americans perished at the hands of Islamic terrorists on 9/11 – an interpretation the White House hadn't disputed, up until Obama’s comments in Florida.

Already, though, Obama's comments on the Ground Zero mosque have transformed an emotion-laden local dispute in New York into a nationwide debate overnight, setting nervous Democrats on edge and creating potentially dramatic political implications in the upcoming midterm elections.

Key Republicans had leapt to criticize Obama’s over his comments Friday on the controversial plan, with House Republican leader John Boehner calling them “deeply troubling.”

And Democrats – at least the ones willing to comment at all — could barely contain their frustration over Obama’s remarks Friday night, saying they would further complicate campaign efforts by candidates struggling in an anti-Democratic year, particularly moderates in conservative-leaning districts who already are 2010’s most vulnerable contenders.

“I would prefer the president be a little more of a politician and a little less of a college professor,” former Rep. Martin Frost (D-Tex.), who once ran the House Democratic campaign arm, wrote in POLITICO’s Arena. “While a defensible position, it will not play well in the parts of the country where Democrats need the most help.”

Obama himself had steered clear of the issue for weeks, with his spokesman Robert Gibbs telling reporters that it was primarily a local issue. But at a Friday White House Iftar dinner, Obama said that while he understands Ground Zero is “hallowed ground,” he told a group of Muslims that he believes they have “the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in the country.”

“And 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 said. “This is America. And our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable. The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country and that they will not be treated differently by their government is essential to who we are.”

Obama has put Democrats from coast to coast in the tough position of having to weigh in on an issue they’d rather duck. Prior to his speech, a few candidates tried with limited success to make the proposed mosque an issue outside of the tri-state area around New York City. Now any Democrat facing an election – less than three months away – can be put in the uncomfortable position of being asked to reject the president’s unpopular stand or side with him.


Few national Democrats rushed to embrace the president. An aide to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, for instance, said she wasn't immediately reachable for comment on the mosque issue. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s spokesman also didn’t immediately offer a comment.

Empire State Democrats, known for being outspoken, stayed notably mute in response to Obama’s comments at the Iftar dinner, a community meal to break the fast during Ramadan. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who is expected to handily win reelection, has not taken a firm stand on the issue despite weeks of prodding from reporters. There also was no statement from Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, running for governor.

Several New York Democrats either involved with members of Congress or strategists said privately that they are not happy about the speech because it puts them in a bind. A recent CNN polls found two-thirds of Americans oppose building the mosque in the neighborhood around Ground Zero.

Democratic aides say that, at the very least, the president has again knocked his party's candidates off local messages and forced them to talk about a national issue that doesn't appear likely to play well with important swing voters.

"The main reaction is 'Why? Why now?’" said one House Democratic leadership aide. "It's just another day off message. There have been a lot of days off message."

The chief of staff to one politically vulnerable House Democrat said it "probably alienates a lot of independent voters" and "it's not a good issue to be talking about right now."

He said he suspects "there are a lot of (Democrats) who are spooked in tough districts today" and "a lot of Republicans licking their chops right now."

They're afraid to be up front in the same way as New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who got national press for supporting the mosque but who is not facing a reelection campaign.

Rep. Pete King, a Republican who represents a swing district on Long Island and has been vocally opposed to the mosque, issued a statement Friday night criticizing Obama for bowing to “political correctness.”

"I can just sense that is going to draw a lot of Democrats out. Most Democrats, as far as I know, have not taken a stand, certainly not taken a positive stand, they've taken a neutral stand or said they're not opposed, but almost no one has said they support it,” King said. “It's definitely going to create political problems for some Democrats, there's no doubt about it, and probably more so around the country."

Boehner (R-Ohio) issued a statement, saying, “The decision to build this mosque so close to the site of Ground Zero is deeply troubling, as is the president's decision to endorse it,” Boehner said. “The American people certainly don't support it. We can never forget that terrible day, and the heroes who lost their lives - often in the hope that others might live. We honor their memory and their sacrifice, always."

Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol urged Republican candidates to frame Obama's comments as elitist and out-of-touch.


He urged GOP candidates to react like this: “President Obama should stop condescending to his fellow citizens, and should start listening to us. He thinks we’re traumatized by 9/11. We’re not. But we do remember 9/11, and we don’t think it honors the memory of that day to acquiesce in—or worse, to embrace--this mosque with those sponsors at that place.”

As some Republicans follow his advice, other administration officials want to take a high-minded approach to the issue. They declined Saturday afternoon to assess how the president's comments may play out on the campaign trail.

"This is more important than candidates and elections," said one senior White House official.

Friday’s speech will be one of the most memorable – and debated statements – of the president’s first two years in office.

At best--depending how the issue echoes in coming days--it may remind people of some of Obama's more transcendent moments on the campaign--a politician with a biracial background (whose own father was a Muslim) capable of both challenging Americans and uniting a majority of them on the most sensitive cultural questions.

At worst, it risks being lumped in with moments that have caused the public to reassess their image of him, such as when he weighed in clumsily on how "stupidly" the Cambridge police acted in arresting Henry Louis Gates, or during the campaign, when he said rural voters cling to guns and religion.

Most members of the New York delegation didn't respond to requests for comment or response to the Obama speech, with the exception of mosque proponent Rep. Carolyn Maloney (who is facing a primary opponent in her 14th district).

In a few specific congressional races in New York, especially ones with GOP primaries and the potential for split tickets with one candidate on the third-party Conservative line and another on the Republican line, the mosque has been an issue for several weeks now, and there were some instant reactions to the speech.

In the famed NY-23, where the phrased "Scozzafavaed" was born, Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman, who has a primary against better-funded Matt Doheny for the GOP line, immediately put out a statement denouncing the president. In NY-1, Conservative nominee Randy Altschuler sent out a statement asking if incumbent Rep. Tim Bishop, the Democrat, agrees with the president and saying he needs to "end the silence" on his stand.

In NY-13, where Democratic Rep. Mike McMahon won a seat in a district that voted for John McCain in 2008, three aides to the congressman didn't respond to repeated requests for comment.

Several Democratic sources said that some New York delegation members have, in recent weeks, expressed privately their discomfort with the topic.

"This is still like an emotional wound for a lot of people," said one source, adding that many delegation members have said, "I know that there's nothing wrong with it. ... I just kind of wish it wasn't happening (near Ground Zero)."