(Newser)
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Harry Reid broke with President Obama Monday to voice his opposition to the mosque and Islamic cultural center planned a few blocks from Ground Zero. A spokesman for the Senate majority leader, who faces a tough re-election bid in Nevada, said Reid respects freedom of religion "but thinks that the mosque should be built someplace else," Politico reports.
Showing that Reid appeared eager to use his opposition to the mosque as an opportunity to shift the current conversation on 9/11 in a direction less favorable to the GOP, the spokesman continued with an appeal for the Sept. 11 responders' legislation. "If the Republicans are being sincere, they would help us pass this long-overdue bill to help the first responders whose health and livelihoods have been devastated because of their bravery on 9/11, rather than continuing to block this much-needed legislation," he said.
