Probably because I composed it hastily, a post I wrote yesterday is causing some confusion. I did not mean to suggest, nor do I believe, that President Obama is responsible for the Ground Zero Mosque controversy (a view some bloggers have attributed to me). I do think that his remarks about it have increased its political salience, but that wasn’t my point either. My basic point is that one disadvantage the Democrats have this year is the public perception that the president has not focused on the issues it is most concerned about, and that Republicans should try to avoid making the same impression themselves. So while the politics of the issue favors the Republicans, they could quickly reach a point of diminishing returns.