You’ve probably heard by now that Barack Obama has well-reasoned and articulate views on the wearing – or not wearing – of the U.S. flag pin on one’s lapel. In Iowa yesterday, a reporter for the Cedar Rapids ABC affiliate asked if the lack of a flag pin on Obama’s lapel was a “fashion statement.” Now, you may think this is a trivial issue to raise in a presidential campaign. We rather incline to that view ourselves. But what’s great about Obama is that he doesn’t think it’s trivial. To the contrary: He’s given it a lot of thought. “You know,” he told the reporter, “the truth is that right after 9/11, I had a pin. Shortly after 9/11, particularly because as we’re talking about the Iraq war, that became a substitute for I think true patriotism, which is speaking out on issues that are of importance to our national security, I decided I won’t wear that pin on my chest. Instead,” he said, “I’m going to tell the American people what I believe will make this country great, and hopefully that will be a testimony to my patriotism.” Some campaigns would flinch if their candidate had just graciously provided video to his opponents with the immortal line: “I won’t wear that pin on my chest.” But not Obama’s. Later in the day, he had more to say on the subject: “Somebody noticed I wasn’t wearing a flag lapel pin and I told folks, well you know what? I haven’t probably worn that pin in a very long time. I wore it right after 9/11. But after a while, you start noticing people wearing a lapel pin, but not acting very patriotic. Not voting to provide veterans with resources that they need. Not voting to make sure that disability payments were coming out on time.” Wow. If Obama weren’t so sophisticated, we would say he just managed to give offense to millions of Americans who do proudly wear the flag on their lapels. But surely no presidential candidate worth his salt would do that. As we said, this is probably a trivial issue, but that’s just our view. We’re not one of the professionals running Obama’s campaign. They must not have thought his two discourses on the semiotics of flag-wearing were enough to win the news cycle, so they issued a statement: “We all revere the flag, but Senator Obama believes that being a patriot is about more than a symbol. It’s about fighting for our veterans when they get home and speaking honestly with the American people about this disastrous war.” So it is all about reverence for the flag, after all. This is one clever campaign. Until yesterday, the story line was all about how Hillary was going to crush Obama. But he’s totally changed the subject! Hasn’t he?
