Posted by Orin Kerr:
More on Obama and the Flag Pin:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2007_09_30-2007_10_06.shtml#1191554471
Eugene [1]suggests below that Barack Obama's decision not to wear an
American flag pin is a bad move because "[t]he American people want a
President who loves their country and who expresses that love, at an
emotional as well as an intellectual level." I am not an expert in
political campaigns, but I have a different take.
First, it seems to me that Obama isn't trying to win the votes of
"the American people" right now. He's trying to win the Democratic
nomination, and presently he is [2]pretty far behind the leading
candidate Hillary Clinton. Given that, Obama's decision not to wear
the pin strikes me as either irrelevant or rather shrewd. It may be
shrewd because among likely Democratic primary voters, wearing an
American flag label pin is widely interpreted as the sort of
right-wing Fox News flag-waving effectively parodied on [3]the Colbert
Report.
As commenter "Bla Bla" [4]points out:
Liberals think of the flag pin as part of Bush's attempt to sort of
snooker the country through misdirection. They think Bush uses his
patriotism as a way of getting people to stop paying attention
while he ruins the country. I totally DO NOT agree with this, but I
can recognize what Obama is doing: Sending a signal to liberals
that he too is sick of Bush.
I think that's right. Of course, it may or may not work, but I
gather that's the strategy.
References
1. http://volokh.com/posts/1191541491.shtml
2. http://www.pollster.com/08-US-Dem-Pres-Primary.php
3. http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/the_colbert_report/index.jhtml
4. http://volokh.com/posts/1191541491.shtml#276983
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