From the ArcaMax Publishing, Clarence Page Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/clarencepage/s-371890-100231
Sen. Barack Obama has been wearing his American flag lapel pin again,
most appropriately during his speech this week in Missouri on
patriotism. His critics may call that a flip-flop. I call it a sign
that he's learning.
As recently as the debate before the Pennsylvania primary the
presumptive Democratic presidential nominee gave eloquent reasons why
he didn't think a flag pin was as important as the patriotic beliefs
he held in his heart. But flag pin lovers vote, too.
It's too bad that so many voters invest so much in symbols, but that's
a reality of politics and human nature. Polls show a small but not
insignificant slice of voters continue to question Obama's patriotism,
especially in white, working-class areas.
Obama, like any other candidate, has to address the unspoken anxieties
of Middle America, including anxieties they might have about him.
Obama's support during the primaries tended to come from the
college-educated, voters under age 55 or those who made more than
$50,000 .
Voters don't all have a lot of time or inclination to spend analyzing
issues and biographies, no matter how much I, as a news media worker,
wish they did. They are more likely to look for signs and symbols that
indicate the candidate, if elected, will do the right thing once
they're behind closed doors.
Sen. John McCain's heroic wartime biography gives the presumptive
Republican nominee a big edge in patriotism points. Obama, the
beneficiary of a rapid rise to prominence, also is burdened by it. A
lot of people don't yet know who he is and what he believes. Worse, he
has been dogged by Internet-fueled smears, including false rumors that
he will not recite the Pledge of Allegiance, place his hand over his
heart during the national anthem or wear an American-flag pin on his
lapel.
That's why values like patriotism matter. So does the manner in which
you define it -- especially to people to whom "change," the big theme
of Obama's campaign, has not always been kind.
Ever since the late 1960s when conservatives came up with jibes like
"limousine liberal," Democrats have wrestled with a paradox, a growing
divide between their presidential candidates and the working class
voters that their policies are intended to help. If ever there was a
year well suited to a Democratic comeback, this is it. Polls show
McCain is having trouble holding on to evangelicals and other
religious voters who supported Republicans overwhelmingly in recent
decades. Disillusionment has set in among them about the war,
congressional scandals, concern about global warming and jitters about
gas prices and the economy.
So I call it a sign of Obama's political education that he launched
into a week of speeches in swing states in Independence Day week with
his flag pin gleaming on his lapel, yet also explaining in his own
terms that that flag means to him.
When Obama's former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., sparked a
firestorm of controversy, Obama responded with a stirring speech that
called for a new dialogue on race in America. In similar fashion, his
speech on patriotism in Independence, Mo., tried to get in front of
the discussion and broaden it into one that touched on broadly held
American values.
He quoted Mark Twain, a proud Missourian, who wrote, "Patriotism is
supporting your country all the time, and your government when it
deserves it." While we always hope our leaders and government will
"stand up for our ideals," Obama added, when they don't, "then the
dissent of ordinary Americans may prove to be one of the truest
expression of patriotism."
A century ago the satirist Ambrose Bierce defined a conservative as "a
statesman who is enamored of existing evils, as distinguished from the
liberal, who wishes to replace them with others." Of course, he was
being sarcastic, describing each side in terms used by its opponents.
Patriotic conservatives prefer to think of themselves as preserving
what's good about America, while patriotic liberals aspire to make
America better.
The larger message of Obama's outreach is that neither political side
has a monopoly on patriotism. We only have different ways of
expressing it. Once we get past arguing over who believes most in the
American dream, we can have a serious debate about how to make that
dream work for everybody.
========
E-mail Clarence Page at cpage(at)tribune.com, or write to him c/o
Tribune Media Services, 2225 Kenmore Ave., Suite 114, Buffalo, NY
14207.