Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) Says President Barack Obama's Endorsement of "Ground Zero Mosque" an Election Issue

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) says President Obama's endorsement of "Ground Zero mosque" is not about freedom of religion & will become an election issue.

The GOP will not let President Obama's roundabout endorsement of the "Ground Zero mosque" go by the wayside. Sen. John Cornyn told Fox News' Bret Baier that the president has now made this an election issue. He told Baier that voters would "render their verdict" in November. I have no issue with a new mosque being built, but I am among the 70% of Americans who don't think it should be built near the scene of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks. President Obama tried to backtrack on Saturday by saying he wasn't speaking to the wisdom of the mosque being built, but to the freedom the Constitution affords us. Really? It seems to me that, once again, President Obama has interjected himself in a local debate. This has nothing to the with the White House and he could have just easily have said this is a decision that needs to be made by the people of New York City and the local government.

"With emotions so high on the issue do you think this becomes an election issue 79 days to go before the mid terms?" asked Baier. "Will you be telling your candidates to make sure what the Democratic opponents how they stand on the particular issue?"

"I think it does speak to the lack of connection between the administration and Washington and folks inside the Beltway and mainstream America, and I think this is what aggravates people so much," answered Cornyn. "I agree with [Sen. Jack Reed], this is going to be a local decision. I would like to hear what the elected officials in New York, the two United States senators and other local officials think about this and the American people will render their verdict." Source

Some have said they admire him for taking such a stand on the location of the mosque. I say that we don't need the distraction of another controversy involving something the president said. He had no business interjecting himself in a local issue. The White House is clearly out of touch with the American people. They are always in damage-control mode. This latest controversy comes weeks after former USDA director Shirley Sherrod was thrown under the bus by the Obama Administration over comments she made about not helping Roger Spooner, a white farmer, to the best of her ability. This happened 24 years ago and she was making a point about accountability and racial healing. Rightwing smear master Andrew Breitbart took a snippet of her speech at a NAACP banquet and literally lynched this woman. The Obama administration forced her to resign without even giving her due process.

Let's not forget the incident with Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. President Obama took the position after Professor Gates was arrested that the police were in the wrong and the white police officer, Sgt. Crowley engaged in questionable behavior. Once again, we dealt with the fallout from President Obama's comments for weeks. It is painfully clear to me that the White House is out of touch with the American people. When will President Obama and his inner circle learn that you just can't get involved in every dogfight that occurs in this country? Don't they have bigger issues to worry about? My beef with President Obama on this issue has nothing to do with the mosque per se, it has to do with Obama getting sparking another unneeded controversy.

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