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Sunday, August 15, 2010

NY Dems run from Obama's mosque speech

By Sam Foster
Via the Politico

First they ran from Charlie Rangel and not one week later Obama gives NY Dems another reason to run.

Maggie Haberman reports:

With the exception of Rep. Jerrold Nadler, I haven't gotten a single response from the N.Y. congressional delegation I reached out to about the president's speech, but but I have heard from multiple Democratic sources that some have privately expressed a sense of discomfort about the topic, and to some extent, the mosque project.

Chuck Schumer's office didn't respond to e-mails. Kirsten Gillibrand's aides didn't give a statement, although she did apparently tell a reporter at a public event that she found the speech "thoughtful."

ADDED: I emailed a spokesman for Andrew Cuomo, who has been unequivocal in supporting the mosque under religious freedom, about the president's remarks, but didn't get a response. I didn't get one from a NY Democratic Party spokesman either.

Rep. Joe Crowley, a Blue Dog Dem, was "out of pocket." Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who's facing a primary, didn't put out a statement about the president, although an aide referred to her past support for the project.

In three heavily Republican districts, the issue is being raised by rivals.

In the famed NY-23, where the phrased "Scozzafavaed" was born, I didn't get a response from a top aide to Rep. Bill Owens, the Democrat who won the seat, thanks to a massively split ticket between the Conservative Party and the Republicans.

In NY-13, where Democratic Rep. Mike McMahon won a seat in a district that voted for John McCain in 2008, three aides to the congressman didn't immediately respond to repeated requests for comment or didn't get back to me at all. One of his rivals, Michael Allegretti, slammed the president for the speech, although not McMahon specifically.

In NY-1, Democratic Rep. Tim Bishop has been hammered by his rivals over the issue, including today in the wake of Obama's speech, but he has been quiet. Aides to Rep. Steve Israel in NY-2 also didn't respond to a request for comment on the speech,

Same for an aide to Rep. John Hall (NY-19), who's facing Republican Nan Hayworth.


I wonder if it has anything to do with how voters feel about the Ground Zero Mosque?

1 comments:

Fenway_Nation said...

Where's that little crybaby punk-ass bitch Weiner?

According to him- Buying gold coins from companies that advertise on talk shows is bad and requires a full-scale investigation, but being compelled to buy insurance under threat of arrest of fine is okey-dokey.

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