Who Respects Freedom of Religion?

It's the dog days of summer in Pittsburgh, and elections are starting to heat up in Pennsylvania. Voting day in this mid-term election is Tuesday November 2. Joe Sestak is fighting it out with Pat Toomey to take Arlen Specter's space. Joe made waves earlier this year when he pulled off a Democratic Primary upset against Specter. In the meantime, he's gained some major support from the party with New York City Mayor Bloomberg endorsing Sestak this week in light of his pro-Constitution stance in light of the effort to build a mosque in Lower Manhattan.

"Joe believes there is a Constitutional right to religious freedom and separation of church and state that applies equally to all Americans," Sestak spokesman Jonathon Dworkin said. "But he is not looking to say what is best for New York - as long as that right is respected - he is focused on Pennsylvania."

Meanwhile, Toomey has spoken out against the building of a mosque in Lower Manhattan.

"It is provocative in the extreme to build a mosque in the shadow of ground zero," said Toomey spokeswoman Nachama Soloveichik. "Islamic leaders should be encouraged to move the mosque elsewhere."

A recent poll shows Toomey has pulling ahead in the Senate race with a 9-point advantage. Public Policy Polling finds that in spite of an advantage in registered Democrats, Democrats are less likely to vote in this election. I, for one, will be trying to prove them wrong on November 2. I hope that the Republican party pulls more stunts like trying to limit freedom of religion in the run-up to these mid-term elections because I think they will find that us Democrats do get riled up about more than "change." As soon as we start limiting freedom of religion, we stop being a free democracy and start on the path to a religious state. No thank you.