It is reported that Steve Pearce, who is a Republican congressional candidate from New Mexico, has made an issue of the ground zero mosque as it turns out; his Democrat opponent agrees:
…Steve Pearce challenged U.S. Rep. Harry Teague on Monday to take a stand on the controversial topic. While the rhetoric is different, it turns out the two essentially agree on the issue.
Both acknowledge that those who want to build the Islamic center near Ground Zero have a right to do so, but Pearce said it should be built somewhere else, and Teague said he wishes they’d build it somewhere else.“While this issue is not a matter of law, it is a deeply personal issue to so many Americans, particularly those who lost someone on that terrible day,” the Republican Pearce said in a news release. “The fact that they may have a legal right to build something does not make it the right thing to do.”
Teague, the Democrat in the race, agreed.
“It seems that some people want the Constitution to apply only when it’s convenient, but we don’t get to decide when we follow the Constitution on a case-by-case basis,” he said in a prepared statement. “I know that this is a very sensitive issue to the families who lost loved ones on 9/11 and to the entire nation. Personally, I wish they’d build it somewhere else in New York City, but that’s not a decision we get to make from down here in New Mexico.”
From here the politics as usual took over and so even though Pearce and Teague agree, “Teague’s campaign had harsh words for Pearce”:
“It isn’t a surprise to anyone that Congressman Pearce is just playing partisan politics as usual…”
Want to know what the rest of the New Mexico delegation, and the other Republicans running for U.S. House seats, think about this issue? The Albuquerque Journal has that story.”[1]
In the next segment this issue will be elucidated.
Note:
[1] Heath Haussamen, “Pearce brings mosque politics to NM,” NM Politics, August 17, 2010, copyright 2006-2010 by Haussamen Publications, Inc.
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