Muslim congressman: Obama’s comments on Ground Zero mosque ‘absolutely’ won’t hurt Democrats
"Political News"08/16/2010
By Michael O'Brien
THE HILL
08/16/10 08:25 AM ET
President Obama's comments about a proposed mosque near the site of the 9/11 attacks will "absolutely not" hurt Democrats this fall, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) said Monday.
Ellison, the first Muslim to be elected to Congress in history, dismissed the notion that Obama's remarks on Friday endorsing an Islamic group's right to construct the mosque near ground zero would weigh on the president's party in the fall's elections.
"Absolutely not," Ellison said on ABC's "Good Morning America" when asked if Obama's remarks would create problems for Democrats this fall.
"The truth is that we're a party of principle," the second-term lawmaker added. "We believe in the idea of religious liberty."
Obama made his remarks in support of a group's right to construct an Islamic center, which includes the mosque, on Friday during a meal in celebration of Ramadan. Religious liberty, Obama said, "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."
The president's decision to weigh in on the controversy was seen as a move that, intentionally or not, elevated the Ground Zero mosque into a national political issue.
Already, some Republicans have used the controversy as an election year cudgel against their Democratic opponents. Sen. David Vitter's (R-La.) campaign, for instance, hit his Democratic opponent, Rep. Charlie Melancon, for not haven come out against the proposed mosque.
"Obama’s support of building the mosque at Ground Zero is a slap in the face," Vitter wrote on Twitter. "Melancon’s silence on this is troubling."
Not all Democrats have sided with Obama and others like Ellison on the mosque, either.
Sen. Joe Lieberman (Conn.), an independent who caucuses with Democrats, said earlier this month that developers should "put the brakes" on the proposed Islamic center.
Ellison said that by stopping the mosque, it would threaten religious liberty in the U.S., and associate all Muslims with the 9/11 attacks.
"[T]here's also a more important principle at work here. And that is that the transnational terrorists who committed this outrageous act on 9/11, they are arguing that America is at war with Islam," he said. "The way to undermine and counteract that false narrative is to stand on our sacredly held beliefs of religious liberty. That's how we demonstrate that, no, America is a country that for everyone where people worship as they see fit. The problem with stopping this Islamic center is that it implies that the Muslim world is responsible for it when it was al Qaeda that was responsible."