For those wondering where the bounds of propriety are on the issue of the Cordoba House controversy, let's do a quick recap of the Republican position.
Building a mosque and Islamic cultural center within a few blocks of Ground Zero?
A tremendous affront to the victims of 9/11.
Forcing victims to relive 9/11 by using footage from the attacks in a campaign video designed to inflame opposition to the mosque and cultural center, and to attempt to resurrect a political campaign on life support?
Totally legit.
Yep...former Congressman and Republican gubernatorial frontrunner Rick Lazio just went there:
(The video) goes to a place that few politicians in New York have visited over the last nine years — it uses images of firefighters surrounded by debris and dust as a prelude to interviews, set to poignant music, with average New Yorkers a block from the site talking about why having a mosque near it is a bad idea.
Maggie Haberman, who writes about New York affairs for Politico is, to say the least, a bit uneasy about the incorporation of 9/11 footage into a political ad in this fashion (emphasis mine):
This may fire up the GOP base, but it still surprises me Lazio's going there. Either it's a huge blunder, or a gamble that no one will be that upset seeing images from that day in a political context, once a massive taboo.
It also seems like a disconnect to argue that having a mosque near the site is insensitive, but showing footage of a firefighter and a pedestrian literally running for their lives from the dust plume and debris from one of the falling towers isn't.
Lazio is now recent convert on the Cordoba House issue, however. He has been flailing away at this issue for more than a month, apparently with the dogged certainty (one shared, if recent events are any indication, by the GOP in general) that this issue provides him with his ticket to political relevancy.
How well is that working out for him? You be the judge:
Siena Poll. 8/9-8/16. Registered Voters. MoE 3.5%. (July results in parentheses).
Republican Primary
Rick Lazio 40 (43)
Carl Paladino 30 (20)
General Election
Andrew Cuomo (D) 60 (60)
Rick Lazio (R) 26 (28)
Dave Weigel asks an incredibly pertinent question:
The first politician for a major elected office who came out against the "ground zero mosque" was Rick Lazio, the man who lost the New York U.S. Senate race to Hillary Clinton in 2000, who's making a comeback bid to run for governor. Lazio asked for a mosque probe more than a month ago, challenged frontrunner Andrew Cuomo to a debate about the mosque -- basically, he's milked it for all it's worth.
So what does it mean that this isn't helping Lazio at all?
The reason, at least in New York, is that voters manage to understand the nuance that while they may not personally like the construction of the mosque, they understand that there is a constitutional right for it to be constructed. While voters in the Empire State disapprove of the project by a wide margin (63-27), they also overwhelmingly agree (64-28) that there is a constitutional right for it to be built.
Something tells me that most voters can appreciate that distinction. The modern-era Republican Party, on the other hand, seems to struggle with it. Which is why their reliance on this issue as a political cudgel might not have the impact that they are anticipating.
