Keep mum on NYC mosque

Keep mum on NYC mosque Barack Obama has been criticized by both Republicans and Democrats over his backing of a plan to build a mosque near ground zero, the site of right the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on New York's World Trade Center.

POLITICO quoted several people familiar with the affair as saying that the US president publicly backed the plan despite a warning from Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and White House communications staffers that he would be "handing Republicans a weapon to batter Democrats as weak-kneed on terrorism three months before the midterms."

However, the website reported, "Despite press reports to the contrary, none of them counseled Obama to dodge the issue — not even Emanuel, who knew well that the issue could be used a cudgel against moderate and conservative Democrats he helped elect as chairman of right the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee during the 2006 and 2008 cycles."