Nigeria Content Online

Maybe Barack Obama should have stayed out of it.

The American
president intervened in an argument he could have avoided and
overshadowed almost everything else he was trying to achieve this week.

“Politically it
was not wise at all,” said Democratic strategist James Carville. But he
added “it was the right thing to do.” Right or not, the argument that
got Mr Obama’s attention, is about a plan to build an Islamic cultural
centre and mosque two blocks from New York’s Ground Zero, the site of
the attacks of September 11, 2001.

America’s
conservatives have been aghast at allowing a Muslim place of worship so
near a site where Islamic extremists killed more than 2,700 people.

In fact, CNN’s polling has found that nearly 70 percent of Americans are opposed to it.

Mr Obama said that
“Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else
in this country. That includes the right to build a place of worship
and a community centre on private property in lower Manhattan, in
accordance with local laws and ordinances.” The president could have
concentrated on his other problems:

America’s anemic
economy and stubborn unemployment have turned voters against him. His
popularity is at an all-time low. Only 42 percent of Americans approve
of how he’s handling the presidency. His Democratic Party is bracing
for major setbacks in upcoming legislative elections.

This week, as Mr
Obama travelled the country to help campaigning candidates, some of the
most prominent were suddenly trying to distance themselves from an
issue they probably never wanted to address.

Even Senate
Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid, a close ally who has leaned on
Mr Obama for support in his own tight re-election bid, issued a
statement “that the mosque should be built somewhere else.” New York
authorities have found no reason to stop the project and there is every
indication that if its supporters can raise the $100 million they’ve
budgeted for their 13-story centre, they will eventually be able to
build it.

So it’s not clear that the president needed to publicly help them along.

He and his party only stand to pay a price for his desire to make a principled stand.

He didn’t really have to do it.