I figured that the question about building an Islamic Mosque near Ground Zero in New York would become an issue in a few campaigns this year.  But President Obama may have increased that number over the weekend.

How?  Well, the President stirred the pot on this story himself, not once, but twice.

First on Friday night, the President told a White House gathering marking Ramadan that Muslims should enjoy the same freedom to worship in the United States that is guaranteed to all others under the Constitution.

"As a citizen, and as President, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country," Mr. Obama said to applause from the audience.  

"And that includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in Lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances.  This is America.  And our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable."

But overnight, the President and his advisers evidently had a slight change of heart, because Mr. Obama made sure to give a statement to TV cameras that seemed to alter his stance slightly, while sticking by his argument that people have the right to worship freely in America.

"I was not commenting and I will not comment on the wisdom of making the decision to put a mosque there," the President said after a speech in Panama City, Florida.

"I was commenting very specifically on the right people have that dates back to our founding. That's what our country is about."

But instead of clarifying his stance, the remarks only seemed to raise more questions, forcing White House officials to further what the President supposedly did or did not mean to say about the mosque.

"Just to be clear, the President is not backing off in any way from the comments he made last night," said White House spokesman Bill Burton on Saturday afternoon.

"It is not his role as President to pass judgment on every local project."

But the news media smelled some rhetorical blood in the water.

"Mosque stance gets an asterisk," read the front page headline in the Sunday Washington Post.

Regardless of what Mr. Obama's stance is, or is not, on the mosque, he has succeeded in doing one thing - this issue has now been elevated to a national one that could impact a number of Congressional races.

Just pull the old and dusty political handbook off the shelf (boy is that heavy) and it has a pretty clear section on what to do with something like this.

"Does my Democratic opponent agree with the President that there should be an Islamic Mosque near Ground Zero?"

Or maybe a thirty second advertisement with somber music that says, "Liberal Democrats like Congressman Blobbo and President Obama want to let Islamic fanatics build a mosque near Ground Zero..."

One Democrat running for Senate in Florida, Jeff Greene, quickly showed how some in Mr. Obama's own party will be happy to run against him on the mosque issue.

"President Obama has this all wrong," Greene said in a statement released on Saturday, as the President was still in the Sunshine State.

"President Obama had the chance to show leadership by calling on the mosque's supporters to find a more appropriate location," Greene said.

Stay tuned on this one.