I'm an Obama supporter, and was annoyed when Obama decided to take off his flag lapel pin and what I thought was a corny justification for it. I don't think it helped him on the democratic side (which was the point of it), and it definitely has hurt him on the crossover vote. The question about whether it will hurt his chances against John McCain keeps coming up. But then I stumbled upon this blog, obviously left-leaning, but made the point that John McCain himself hasn't worn his flag pin for quite a while. This blog also complains about the latest "debate". He echoed exactly what I was thinking while watching it. It's short, and worth reading. http://www.politicalbase.com/profile/Mark Nickolas/blog/&blogId=1880
I base my vote off of the way candidates dress, and put special emphasis on the lapel region. Thanks for this!
That is so utterly shallow, and so typical, man. I care about the substantive things - whether the candidate has cable.
The fact that this is an "issue" says everything about the state of the mainstream news at this point. It's preposterous that with the sorry state of the economy, over 50 million Americans without health care, and with our country mired in a seemingly endless war that whether or not a candidate wears a flag lapel pin is being talked about for even one second. I'm just disgusted by these types of "issues." Why should anyone care about this when there are so many important issues at stake? I consider this to be a distraction of the highest order. Some people want Americans to vote on this sort of trivial nonsense instead of the real issues. You see if people vote on the real issues than this election will not be close because McCain represents a continuation of Bush's policies. The very same policies that have wrecked this country in every way and brought him sub 30% approval ratings. I will be very disappointed with the American people if Obama doesn't win the general election by at least 10% points.
And more importantly, do they get the premium channels! It is sad that these days a lapel pin is portrayed as having anything of substance when it comes to choosing a candidate.
I couldn't care less about this or Reverend Wright or any of this Obama crap. But I'll say this: I fear the politician who could be elected despite these things. If you see Bush's policies as a right/left trend, you're missing the bigger picture. What Bush more importantly represents is the radical expansion of the federal government. This will not change with Obama, because these elections naturally do not select for people who are averse to using and expanding power. Quite the opposite. The best days are in the past because America has lost control of its authorities, and I don't think there's any turning back before an economic collapse finally puts the breaks on for us.
People vote based on worse. Remember Any Body But Bush in 2004? They could care less what John Kerry Stood for they just hated Bush.
Ha, George Washington lead an Army against the British so that 300 years later you could vote for a guy you really didn't like because you hate the other guys more. Democracy at its finest.
Off topic now. But I think Obama should just wear the pin or leave it be. His excuse for not wearing it is lame but at the same time its not a very important detail to cast your vote on.
Really great blog reference. Very revealing. There are some who have made a big deal about things that are both shallow and representative of an effort to turn what should be a substitive debate about critically important issues into a game of shallow symbols. It would appear that McCain could care less about the symbols, once he got through the Republican primaries, during which it was viewed as important. I like the fact that he stopped wearing the symbol. It is a small but indicative reference that he differs from Bush-> all symbol no substance. I look forward to what he has to say on substitive issues.
That's interesting and counter-intuitive. McCain gets marks for taking it off, because it differentiates him from Bush. It just goes to show that voters use all sort of irrational arguments (myself included) as divining rods for truth and leadership.
Despite WHAT things? Seriously?! These supposedly big issues are NOTHING compared to the dirt on most politicians. They are going after Obama on these trivial issues precisely because they have no real dirt on him. McCain was involved in one of the biggest scandals of the 1980s (The Keating Five) - Obama doesnt have anything nearly that big in his past. So because Obama has no history of real scandal they have to go after him based on things like flag lapel pins and taking some innocent comments out of context and character assassination of people he knows. It's insanity. If McCain were held to the same standards... Just imagine McCain being asked "Why did you call your wife a C-nt?" I disagree. I LOVED his answer for why he doesn't wear one. It's exactly the kind of empty headed "patriotism" of wearing the flag on your sleeve that is so disturbing to me. People's patriotism should be judged by their actions - not by whether they drape themselves in the flag or not. That sort of "patriotism" is anything but patriotism. It's mind control. It's disgusting.