Mosque debate divides Democrats

NEW YORK – As tender congressional Democrats consider how to answer to President Barack Obama's arguments on Muslims' right to build a mosque close to ground zero, those in New York City and closest to the controversy are staying soundless or scrambling away.
Democrats assure both Senate seats and twenty-seven of the state's twenty-nine Congressional districts, but analysts think as many as 8 House Democrats in the state may be headed up to defeat this year. Republicans, desiring to ease Democrats' grip on the state, insist the economic system continues the major campaign issue but allege the mosque flap forced out move electors their way.
By eastern Long Island to more rural upstate fields, House Democrats have been contradicting the construction of a $100 million Islamic center two blocks from the World Trade Center site. More 2,700 people died there on Sept. 11, 2001, at the hands of Islamic terrorists, and the wound remains fresh for many New Yorkers who are still traumatized by the attacks or who lost loved ones that day.
Developers of the planned Islamic center known as Park51 have plans for a 13-story structure featuring a pool, gym and 500-seat auditorium, as well as a mosque and Sept. 11 memorial. It's a project of the Cordoba Initiative, a New York-based nonprofit group that promotes greater understanding between Islam and the West.