But [The Obama's] comments Friday night were widely interpreted as an endorsement of plans to build a mosque a few blocks away from where nearly 3,000 Americans perished at the hands of Islamic terrorists on 9/11 - an interpretation the White House hadn't disputed, up until [The] Obama's comments in Florida.
Already, though, [The] Obama's comments on the Ground Zero mosque have transformed an emotion-laden local dispute in New York into a nationwide debate overnight, setting nervous Democrats on edge and creating potentially dramatic political implications in the
upcoming midterm elections.
Key Republicans had leapt to criticize [The] Obama's over his comments Friday on the controversial plan, with House Republican leader John Boehner calling them "deeply troubling."