{"id":20568,"date":"2010-08-17T07:59:28","date_gmt":"2010-08-17T13:59:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=20568"},"modified":"2010-08-18T07:54:40","modified_gmt":"2010-08-18T13:54:40","slug":"pearce-brings-mosque-politics-to-nm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2010\/08\/pearce-brings-mosque-politics-to-nm\/","title":{"rendered":"Pearce brings mosque politics to NM"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Steve Pearce, left, and Harry Teague (Photos by Heath Haussamen)<\/p><\/div>\n

With Republicans trying to make a planned mosque near Ground Zero a wedge issue<\/a> in contested races across the nation, Steve Pearce<\/a> challenged U.S. Rep. Harry Teague<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019d build it somewhere else.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile 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,\u201d the Republican Pearce said in a news release. \u201cThe fact that they may have a legal right to build something does not make it the right thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teague, the Democrat in the race, agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems that some people want the Constitution to apply only when it\u2019s convenient, but we don\u2019t get to decide when we follow the Constitution on a case-by-case basis,\u201d he said in a prepared statement. \u201cI know that this is a very sensitive issue to the families who lost loved ones on 9\/11 and to the entire nation.\u00a0Personally, I wish they\u2019d build it somewhere else in New York City, but that\u2019s not a decision we get to make from down here in New Mexico.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teague\u2019s campaign had harsh words for Pearce.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt isn\u2019t a surprise to anyone that Congressman Pearce is just playing partisan politics as usual,\u201d spokeswoman Jessica Borchert said. \u201cBut this campaign isn\u2019t about what\u2019s happening in New York City.\u00a0It\u2019s about issues being driven by the\u00a0people of New Mexico’s Second Congressional District.\u00a0Maybe if Congressman Pearce took the time to travel the district and talk to people he\u2019d understand what some of those issues are.\u201d<\/p>\n

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<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Teague accuses Pearce of waffling on the First Amendment<\/h3>\n

<\/p>\n

Teague is in a tough re-election battle against Pearce, his predecessor in Congress who voluntarily gave up the seat in 2008 to run unsuccessfully for Senate. As I\u2019ve written, some believe Teague has avoided taking definite stances<\/a> on some issues, instead trying to have it both ways.<\/p>\n

But Teague took a strong stance on Monday on the right of those who want to build a mosque near Ground Zero to do it. And his campaign hammered Pearce for what it said was waffling on the First Amendment right to freedom of religion.<\/p>\n

President Barack Obama has defended the legal right<\/a> of Muslims to build a mosque near Ground Zero, but he has not said whether he believes the mosque should be built there. Still, some have interpreted his comments as an endorsement, and Pearce seized on that in his news release.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is disappointing that President Obama has endorsed building a mosque near Ground Zero,\u201d Pearce said. \u201cThe American people do not support this position and we should not be so insensitive to memory of those who lost their lives on that tragic day.\u201d<\/p>\n

He called on Teague to \u201cjoin me in calling on the president to\u00a0reconsider\u00a0his position and state clearly that this location is an ill-chosen one and does not honor the memory of those who died.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teague, in response, pointed to this statement<\/a> from Pearce\u2019s Web site:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Constitution is the single most important document in our civil lives\u2026 Politicians in Washington have gotten comfortable bending and twisting the Constitution to advance their political agendas. We need to return to the concepts and wisdom that our forefathers bestowed upon us more than 200 years ago. The Constitution is our guardian as it\u2026\u00a0protects our right to prayer and against the government halting expressions of faith.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Borchert said Pearce is now showing his lack of independence.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe defends the Constitution on his website,\u201d she said, \u201cbut when the (National Republican Congressional Committee<\/a>) says jump, Congressman Pearce abandons his position and asks, \u2018How high?\u2019\u00a0Even\u00a0Politico<\/a> is reporting that this is just more political strategy orchestrated by the national Republican Party in Washington \u2013 and, apparently, Congressman Pearce is more than happy to follow the leader.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With Republicans trying to make a planned mosque near Ground Zero a wedge issue in contested races across the nation, 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1],"tags":[108,177,116],"class_list":["post-20568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","category-uncategorized","tag-2010-election","tag-religion","tag-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20568"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20568\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}