NY's mosque controversy becomes national political issue

WASHINGTON - It was a short-lived but stunning Web ad that Republican Senate candidate Roy Blunt ran in Missouri recently, showing a smoldering Ground Zero after 9/11 with a soundtrack of his Democratic rival Robin Carnahan saying she doesn't oppose the building of an Islamic center nearby.

"Look, I'm not going to try to tell folks in New York what to do and I don't want them telling us in Missouri what to do, so in the end it's going to have to be their decision," she says.

Blunt quickly took down the ad Thursday, hours after it debuted, as soon as Carnahan complained about the picture of the rubble. But he put it back up with the same soundtrack and a new image - of Carnahan with President Barack Obama.

Obama's statements last weekend on the mosque issue had some Long Island Democrats on the defensive. Now, across the country, Republicans have taken up the planned Islamic center and mosque as an issue for the midterm elections: in races for the Senate in Florida and Missouri, for House seats in California and Ohio, and for the governor's job in Georgia.

"I think it's coast to coast," said John Petrocik, a political-science professor at University of Missouri. "The more conservative you are, the more Republican you are," he said, the more likely it'll be a significant issue.

Some Democrats - notably those vulnerable politicians, such as Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, representing conservative areas - say the mosque should be built elsewhere.

But polls show and political analysts say that opposition to the mosque - and disapproval of Obama's supportive comments for it - is an issue owned and used mostly by Republicans.

And Republicans see it both as an opportunity and a risk.

A Republican National Congressional Committee aide said he sees it as a chance to paint Obama and Democrats as out of touch and insensitive.

But Republicans Michael Gerson, a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie warned the GOP not to "play politics" with the issue because it could look intolerant and send the wrong message internationally.

Still, the issue has taken on a life of its own, and the opposition to Park51, as the project two blocks from Ground Zero is known, appears to grow the farther you get from Manhattan.

Last week's statewide Siena Research Institute poll, for instance, showed opposition to Park51 in the suburbs is 10 points higher than in New York City. And upstate, it's 13 points higher than in the city. It also shows liberals split on Park51, with 48 percent for it and 44 percent against it, while conservatives oppose it 81 percent to 10 percent.

Last week, a Gallup Poll found a similar national pattern: Republicans are closely following the issue, and 63 percent of them strongly disapprove of Obama's mosque remarks. Democrats aren't as focused on it, and 31 percent strongly approve of his comments.

Obama said Aug. 13 that he backed the constitutional right to build the mosque. The next day, he clarified he would not comment on the wisdom of building it at that site.

"I think it's probably more of an issue for Republicans because they think it's an opportunity to make the president look bad," said Gallup pollster Jeffrey Jones.

Petrocik said Republicans' opposition to the mosque reflects their embrace of "American conventions and American norms . . . of traditional values."

He predicted the Blunt mosque ad could be effective. "If she gets tied to that, she's going to have another stone to carry," he said of Carnahan. "And it's a pretty big one."