Posted on 02/12/2007 7:26:57 AM PST by pissant
Political considerations color the divergent views of presidential candidates on whether the Confederate flag should be moved from the State House grounds.
For Republicans competing in the Feb. 2, 2008, GOP primary, where white voters will hold sway, the flag is a state issue that the candidates are not eager to discuss.
On the Democratic side, where half or more of the voters in the Jan. 29, 2008, primary will be black residents, candidates have no qualms about calling for the flag’s removal.
“Each side is playing to its basic constituency,” said Blease Graham, a political science professor at USC.
A 2000 legislative compromise moved the flag from the State House dome to the grounds, sparking questions about whether it should be removed entirely.
Among six top GOP contenders reached by The State, only U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., offered more than a suggestion that the issue should be decided by South Carolinians.
A Hunter spokesman, Roy Tyler, said his boss thinks South Carolinians should decide the issue, adding the congressman thinks the flag is fine where it flies.
“We’re talking about history here,” Tyler said. “We don’t think we should be slapping anybody’s history in the face.”
MCCAIN’S CHANGING POSITIONS
No candidate has been as wary of the flag issue as U.S. Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican whose 2000 campaign bus was dubbed the Straight Talk Express because he bluntly held forth on a number of issues, no matter how delicate.
But the Straight Talk Express took a detour when it ran into the flag. As he campaigned in the crucial S.C. Republican primary against then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush, McCain declined to be drawn into the flag debate, saying it was a matter for state officials to decide.
After he lost, McCain said he didn’t address the issue fully because “I feared that if I answered honestly, I could not win the South Carolina primary.”
McCain said he should have been more direct when asked about the flag, issuing a detailed statement noting his Confederate ancestry.
“Those ancestors of mine might have fought honorably, but they fought to sever the union of our great nation,” he said. “They fought on the wrong side of American history. That, my friends, is how I personally feel about the Confederate battle flag. That is the honest answer I never gave to a fair question. I believe the flag should be removed from your Capitol.”
Fast-forward seven years: McCain is no longer the maverick challenger. As his deep well of big-time GOP support in the state indicates, he is the establishment’s candidate this time.
Danny Diaz, a McCain spokesman, gave a brief statement when asked if the senator thinks the flag should be moved to a different location or remain where it flies.
“A bipartisan solution to this issue was developed by the General Assembly, and the senator applauds their efforts,” Diaz said.
Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said the response of McCain and his fellow Republicans reflects the views of white GOP primary voters.
“Among white Republican primary voters, they either support the flag strongly or they don’t think it’s a big deal,” Sabato said. “It’s a classic case of a constituency driving candidate positions.”
Of McCain’s changing position, Sabato said: “That was when John McCain was running to win the media primary. Now, he’s running to win the Republican primary.”
‘FLAG IS NOT DIABETES’
Sabato and other political experts said the Confederate flag is a much easier issue for Democratic presidential candidates.
Seven top Democratic candidates reached by The State favor removing the flag from the State House grounds.
Lonnie Randolph, S.C. NAACP president, has argued for the flag’s removal, saying its location is an insult.
But some say other issues are more crucial.
Kendall Corley, a black staff worker for the Richland County Democratic Party, agrees with Randolph. But he wants the presidential candidates to address other pressing concerns.
“That flag is not high blood pressure,” Corley said. “That flag is not diabetes. That flag is not a lot of things that kill us every day.”
Still, some candidates may try to use the flag issue to score points with black voters, said Cleveland Sellers, head of USC’s African-American Studies program.
“But we have a sophisticated African-American electorate,” Sellers said. “They will be looking to learn how the candidates will address a variety of issues.”
Let southern history and culture stand.
This isn't a national issue. It's up to the people in S.Carolina
Bob Dornan was the type of California conservative who would fall all over himself patronizing liberal Blacks. I hope Hunter keeps on a different course.
The irony of this post on Lincoln's Birthday is palpable.
I think South Carolina paid Sherman's Army for all past crimes, and paid in full. They can fly any flag they want.
I wish we had Sherman in Iraq.
Absolutely.
Bravo. I have no problem with the Confederate flag because I dont see the hatred it has been labeled with.
Yep. I'm pure Michigan yankee and I'm glad the north won but I hold no grudges and see no reason to continue to punish the great great grandchildren of those who fought.
Agreed, but states rights are not shameful.
So are we to just pretend that the flag never existed? It was a battle flag for the southern military. Are we to wipe out history concerning President Lincoln? He was against getting rid of slavery but did so for political reasons and to help gain support for the war. It's all part of our history and we need it to remind us of things we did wrong so we don't make the same mistakes in the future.
It was politically expedient.
Indeed it was. Good thing the Flag never flew over one slave ship (but the union flag did).
I have a more important question. How is it the business of a national politician how a state honors its dead? Oh that's right it's not!
Why not?
The irony is that the victorious North did not demand that southern states could not fly the stars and bars, but in these jessie-jacksonifacation times, all the libs do. It hasn't stopped a large reverse migration of blacks to the south either.
And you gotta admit, it's a pretty slick logo. I believe one reason the reb flag lives on is cuz it's cool looking.
"We don’t think we should be slapping anybody’s history in the face.”
Well that's the problem. To a lot of black folks, the presense of this flag is a slap in the face.
And yo, flamers, don't bother.
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