Asked in a local TV interview about his views on the Burlington Coat Factory Mosque, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) delivers a textbook example of how Democrats can turn the mosque "issue" around on Republicans, dismissing it as a made-up controversy fueled by the likes of Karl Rove to divide America and distract from a discussion of the sorts of policies we need to strengthen the economy:
Partial transcript:
QUESTION: Are you for or against the mosque issue?
BROWN: Oh, I think it’s a local decision. We’re not at war with a religion, we're at war with terrorism. And I thought it was interesting, the first clip on your news story is Karl Rove who is great at dividing the country and turning people against people. I mean, this and the Fourteenth Amendment and other issues -- conservatives who simply want the president to fail are using issues like this, the Fourteenth Amendment, the mosque, to distract the public away from what we need to be doing -- that's passing a jobs bill, paying special focus on manufacturing. We in Ohio know how to make things, and we ought to have a real manufacturing policy in this country.
QUESTION: You talk about manufacturing, let's turn to unemployment right now. You have fought for extending benefits to people unemployed for about two years now. While companies are posting profits, they are still cutting jobs, especially in manufacturing. The latest numbers show unemployment in Ohio is at 10.5%, but that's down from 11% in March. You're in Cleveland today for a couple of events related to jobs. Talk to us a bit about that.
Notice that while Brown directly answered the question -- not just saying that he felt it was a local issue, but also saying that it was wrong to suggest Muslims are an enemy -- he also avoided getting bogged down in the mosque issue by turning it around against Republicans, saying that their obsession with the mosque is evidence that they aren't focused on the economy. As a result, Brown managed to spend almost the entire interview talking about his own views on jobs and the economy, communicating the message that he wanted to communicate instead of letting Republicans control the dialog.
Appropriately applied, it doesn't take much political jujitsu to turn a perceived liability into an asset. Republicans can spend all their time talking about the mosque, but as long as Democrats remain focused on jobs and the economy, it will still be Democrats who are addressing the nation's top priorities -- no matter what Karl Rove may say.