Harry Reid comes out against Obama-backed plan for mosque ne
Could this be orchestrated for political gain for Harry'? I think he would grab at anything to get elected and I don't think he would "break" with Obama. I suspect that it is contrived for votes to keep him in power in the Senate
Sen. Harry Reid comes out against Obama-backed plan for mosque near Ground Zero
BY Kenneth R. Bazinet and Adam Lisberg
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Originally Published:Monday, August 16th 2010, 12:52 PM
Updated: Monday, August 16th 2010, 9:22 PM
Senate boss Harry Reid (D-Nev.) broke sharply from the commander in chief Monday by calling for the planned 13-story mosque and community center, dubbed Park51, to be moved to another site.
"The First Amendment protects freedom of religion," Reid's spokesman said. "Sen. Reid respects that, but thinks that the mosque should be built someplace else."
The highest-profile defection yet came as Obama's camp scrambled to escape the mosque firestorm - by insisting politics played no role in the President weighing in.
White House spokesman Bill Burton said Obama, who backed the Park51 project in a Ramadan speech Friday, waded into the debate solely to support freedom of religion.
"I can't speak to the politics of what the Republicans are doing," Burton said. "The President didn't do this because of the politics. He spoke about it because he feels he has an obligation as the President to address this."
Outraged Democrats facing tough reelection fights were apoplectic. "It's already a campaign issue!" said a miffed congressional Democratic source. "The Republicans are picking us off one by one today."
Republicans across the country hope Obama's support for the mosque, slated for two blocks from Ground Zero on Park Place, will be a classic campaign wedge issue.
Florida GOP gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott even aired an ad called "Obama's Mosque" that never mentions Florida but concludes, "Mr. President, Ground Zero is the wrong place for a mosque."
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), a 2012 GOP presidential tease, was happy to continue serving up red-meat rhetoric to the Republican base.
Appearing on Fox News, Gingrich likened a mosque at Ground Zero to Nazis protesting at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington or the Japanese erecting a memorial near Pearl Harbor.
"There is no reason for us to accept a mosque next to the World Trade Center," he said.
Mayor Bloomberg - a staunch proponent of building the mosque near Ground Zero - rushed to Obama's defense.
"This President has stood up for what's right," Hizzoner said, noting the mosque would increase the "cultural diversity of our city."
Meanwhile, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported the political fight could soon be moot, claiming mosque developers would "soon back down" and move somewhere else in the city.
Park51 developer Sharif el-Gamal said the Haaretz report couldn't be further from the truth.
"That's complete misinformation. That's crazy," he said. "That's totally totally wrong."
"We've never even talked about this as an idea," he added. "Everything is on track and moving forward at the same location."
alisberg@nydailynews.com
With Erin Einhorn and Samuel Goldsmith
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/201 ... z0wpTVYTPc
