Reid gave White House a heads-up on mosque

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told the White House he
would be disagreeing with President Obama on a controversial mosque near New York’s Ground
Zero before he went public.

Reid spokesman Jim Manley said Reid gave the administration
an early heads-up, offering a slight peek at the coordination that goes on
between the administration and the Senate’s leader.

{mosads}White House deputy spokesman Bill Burton on Tuesday also
indicated the White House knew Reid was going to come out publicly against the
president.

“We did have a sense that that’s what they were going to
do,” Burton told reporters in a short briefing Tuesday aboard Air Force One.

Reid, locked into a tight reelection race against GOP
challenger Sharron Angle, had authorized Manley to issue a statement Monday
that called for the mosque to be built at a less-sensitive site.

“The First Amendment protects freedom of religion,” Manley
said. “Senator Reid respects that but thinks that the mosque should be built
someplace else.”

That made headlines because Obama on Friday had appeared
to endorse the mosque’s right to the location. The president specified on
Saturday that he was addressing religious freedom and not the specific location
on the Islamic center, which is to include a prayer space.

In recent days, Reid has been pressed by Angle to address
the mosque controversy. Her campaign issued a statement saying Reid “has a
responsibility to stand up and say ‘no’ to the mosque at Ground Zero, or once
again side with President Obama.”

Reid is clinging to a slight lead over Angle. A Las Vegas
Review-Journal/Mason-Dixon poll from Aug. 9 to Aug. 11 put him at 46 percent to
44 percent for Angle.

Burton said Obama respects “the right of anybody” to
disagree with him on the issue.

Pressed on whether there was a disagreement with Reid,
Burton said, “Well, the statements are different. What the president said was
that he thinks that there’s a fundamental right for individuals and groups to
be treated equally.

“But the president, like he said on Saturday, didn’t comment
specifically on whether or not he was pushing for the site to actually be put
in that spot. Senator Reid’s comment was he thinks it shouldn’t be.”

Burton said Obama and Reid have different takes on this
issue.