The rancorous debate over a proposed mosque near Ground Zero is threatening to sweep away the political détente long reserved for the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Solemn memorials and tributes to the fallen have become tradition for the annual observance, along with a bipartisan understanding — if not an outright agreement – to give campaign politics a rest for a day. But politics could intrude on this year’s ninth anniversary, as Ground Zero has moved to a prime spot in the midterm election campaign.
Opponents of an Islamic Center to be built two blocks from Ground Zero have organized a protest timed for this year’s anniversary of the September 11 attacks. The event has made the organizers’ own allies uncomfortable, prompting criticism from New York politicians in both parties.
“I would schedule it for another time and place,” Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), an opponent of the mosque who was invited to the event, said in an interview. “It should not be a political issue on Sept. 11.”
Politicians have frequently used 9/11 imagery in advertisements, but have generally avoided playing politics on the anniversary.
A Republican candidate for governor in New York, former Rep. Rick Lazio, has made opposition to the Islamic center a centerpiece of his campaign against the Democratic frontrunner, Andrew Cuomo. Lazio was criticized for using images of the burning Twin Towers in a Web ad that he later pulled.
The use of 9/11 isn’t limited to the GOP. In Congress, Democrats supportive of the proposed Islamic center have responded to GOP criticism by stepping up calls to pass a bill providing funding for long-term medical treatment of Ground Zero responders.
The political ceasefire on Sept. 11 has always been a fragile one. The anniversary is an annual interruption to the political campaign season, whether for presidential elections in 2004 and 2008 or for New York City’s mayoral race in 2005 and 2009. The attacks themselves coincided with the 2001 Democratic mayoral primary.
Full Story: Fight over Ground Zero sets up most political 9/11 anniversary yet
WATCH: CONTROVERSY HEATS UP OVER GROUND ZERO MOSQUE