Obama Wearing Flag Pin with Poll and Polls

In last night's ABC Debacle of Brotherly Love, Obama was asked by an unemployed PA viewer why he refused to wear a flag pin:

NASH MCCABE, VOTER: Senator Obama, I have a question, and I want to know if you believe in the American flag. I am not questioning your patriotism, but all our servicemen, policemen and EMS wear the flag. I want to know why you don't.

More below...

Obama's response was:

Well, look, I revere the American flag. And I would not be running for president if I did not revere this country.

This is -- I would not be standing here if it wasn't for this country. And I've said this -- again, there's no other country in which my story is even possible. Somebody who was born to a teenage mom, raised by a single mother and grandparents from small towns in Kansas, you know, who was able to get an education and rise to the point where I can run for the highest office in the land, I could not help but love this country for all that it's given me.

And so, what I've tried to do is to show my patriotism by how I treat veterans when I'm working in the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee; by making sure that I'm speaking forcefully about how we need to bring this war in Iraq to a close, because I think it is not serving our national security well and it's not serving our military families and our troops well; talking about how we need to restore a sense of economic fairness to this country, because that's what this country has always been about, is providing upward mobility and ladders to opportunity for all Americans.

After winning the debate, according to people polls:

ABC: Who won the Democratic debate?

Sen. Barack Obama: 35,272
Sen. Hillary Clinton: 13,140
It was a tie: 4,298
Total Vote: 52,710

NBC:

Who won the debate?   * 70156 responses
Hillary Clinton won: 28%
Barack Obama won: 54%
Neither won: 18%
Did the debate help you decide whom to support?   * 68658 responses
Yes, my mind's made up: 48%
No, I still can't decide: 4.3%
It made me lean toward Obama: 28%
It made me lean toward Clinton: 11%
It made me want to look elsewhere: 7.9%
Will Clinton and Obama combine forces to create a "dream team"?   * 69559 responses
Yes, Clinton-Obama:9.4%
Yes, Obama-Clinton: 7.4%
No, there's no way either would accept the other as a running mate: 83%

CBS: Who won the Democratic debate in Philadelphia Wednesday night?
Hillary Clinton: 25.57%
Barack Obama: 74.43%

Newsday

Which of the Democrats won the Philadelphia debate?

Barack Obama (339 responses): 59.0%

Hillary Clinton (99 responses): 17.2%

Clinton, but it probably won't help her catch Obama (48 responses): 8.3%

Neither candidate stepped forward. (68 responses): 11.8%

Both candidates were impressive. (21 responses): 3.7%
o 575 total responses (Results not scientific)

...yet losing according to the bobbleheads, Obama has reconsidered his position on wearing a little symbol that means more to unemployed voters in Pennsylvania and the rest of America than getting jobs, keeping their houses, having affordable healthcare, keeping Social Security, ending the war in Iraq, improving the education system, sending their children to college, rebuilding the nation's crumbling infrastructure, passing the G.I. bill, or the problems of outsourcing our industries to foreign countries, the falling U.S. dollar, the price of gasoline, soldiers dying in Iraq and Afghanistan, wounded soldiers receiving the care they need, and so on.

•  All of the above.

  by jvantin1 on Thu Apr 17, 2008 at 09:14:35 AM PDT

•  I was terribly dissapointed

  they didn't ask about Orange Juice.

  That's a critical issue for me.

  by Bindle on Thu Apr 17, 2008 at 09:18:39 AM PDT

  •  "Sen. Obama, are you really an OJ kind of guy?"

    by pat208 on Thu Apr 17, 2008 at 09:53:05 AM PDT

•  as noted in another thread, why wasn't Hill asked

  this?   And never has been?   And why does McCain get a pass cause of Hanoi Hilton-  certainly cops and firemen also have done commendable things but still wear the pins to show their love for the country.

  Why the double standard, media?   Why only ask the  guy with the funny name?

  by brueso on Thu Apr 17, 2008 at 09:19:10 AM PDT

•  Will wearing a lapel pin lower the price of gas?

  Will wearing a lapel pin keep us safe from terrorists?

  Will wearing a lapel pin bring jobs back to the middle tax?

  Will wearing a lapel pin restore the infrastructure of this country?

  Will wearing a lapel pin restore public education?

  Will wearing a lapel pin create affordable healthcare for all Americans?

  Will wearing a lapel pin do anything for any American, other than the American who owns the lapel pin manufacturing company, which is probably located overseas?

  Just sayin'...

  GOBAMA!!!

  by Little Lulu on Thu Apr 17, 2008 at 09:51:27 AM PDT

•  Flag pin crap

  No, I haven't got over it. I'm still gnashing my teeth about flag pins. Mrs. Clinton wasn't wearing one either but not one thought to ask her why not. As far as I know, no one has ever asked her any or other woman why they're not wearing one. Enough of them go around fully lapelled. Otherwise they can have pendants, bracelets, buckles, earringa, diamond and ruby studded. I think flag pins are stupid, don't get me wrong. But the I am woman and you are man bit makes me sick. It's the basis of the crap between Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Clinton as they play their cheesy soap out in public. Now I propose that, like men, women be held to account on this matter. They can liberate themselves from a thick layer of sexism by stepping up to the plate. Up to now, men have been considered unpatriotic until they flashed their lapel pin, and women have automatically been considered patriotic. As of today, they are also suspect until they prove their patriotism everyday.

  Set the example, ladies, starting with Mrs. Clinton, Mrs. georgie 2, Mrs. Vice President and, last but not least, Miss Rice!

  It seems that Mr. Clinton wears a double flag pin. What do the flags represent?

  by Quentin on Thu Apr 17, 2008 at 09:51:58 AM PDT

•  The flag-pin questioner seems determined to

  cement her fate as marginally employed and medically uninsured with those kinds of questions.

  Blind allegiance to a symbol instead of paying attention to how society is failing its citizens leads to the circumstances we find this nation in.

  Call me elitist if you will.

  by Ammo Hauler on Thu Apr 17, 2008 at 09:53:03 AM PDT

  •  It was awfully ironic to see a living example

    of the jingoistic working class voter that Obama was supposedly so evil for noticing earlier...

    by decembersue on Thu Apr 17, 2008 at 09:59:36 AM PDT

•  Tips for finally getting pics posted?

  by orangeuglad on Thu Apr 17, 2008 at 09:58:30 AM PDT

•  he should wear the pin to make this junk go away

  It's a silly symbolic thing, but silly symbolic things lost Al Gore Florida by 537 votes. So Barack would be wise to just start wearing a flag pin. Then the issue would go away and he won't have to stand there in a general election debate with a war hero like McCain and try to explain why he isn't wearing the pin. It's not like wearing the pin is a big imposition or anything. Wear the pin and get rid of the issue.

  by redwards95 on Thu Apr 17, 2008 at 10:01:44 AM PDT

  •  no, it would be seen as caving in at this point

    He should stick to his guns.   If it is ever asked again, he need only say "I think Hillary Clinton and John McCain are patriotic and I notice they rarely wear flag pins."

    by brueso on Thu Apr 17, 2008 at 10:06:24 AM PDT

  •  Gore did not lose FL by 537.

    He won by tens of thousands of votes.

    If he had got another 537 votes, Jeb and his little band fucking criminals and that DeadPaintedWhore [no offense intended towards sex workers, or dead people] Kathleen Harris would have adjusted the vote in some other damn machine.

    Please. Get that concept through your head.

    Now, if one wants to say it might have made a difference somewhere else, that part I could agree with.

    by shpilk on Thu Apr 17, 2008 at 03:07:20 PM PDT

    •  Katherine Harris, that is

      my sincere apologies to Kathleens everywhere.

      by shpilk on Thu Apr 17, 2008 at 03:11:28 PM PDT

•  Seinfeld

  This pin issue just keeps reminding me of when Kramer wouldn't wear the ribbon in the parade. That's also how ridiculous the whole idea of equating patriotism and pins. What's next wearing a cross to show how christian one may be?

  by rickpolitic on Thu Apr 17, 2008 at 10:02:59 AM PDT

•  Flags as body ornaments

  became the rage for all government politicians after 9/11.  The whole nation became flag-happy in a way in order to express their frustration at the attacks and their solidarity as a nation.  As time passed, it became apparent that our leaders had not done all they could to protect us and had led us astray into a pre-planned war.  When Cheney, Ashcroft, and Tenet appeared on TV with their lapel pins, the flag in that particular context started to take on a very different meaning. . .it became a replacement for true patriotism, a cover for incompetence, a hollow symbol meant to stir up emotion in order to mask a faltering administration.  And it is the image of that lapel pin on those dark suits that for me now represents dishonesty, a lack of patriotism, cronyism, and a host of other negatives.  It's not the flag in general, but that enameled, shiny pin.  And the notion that wearing or not wearing one of them signifies one's patriotism is idiotic.  It is sad that Gibson and Stephie aren't able to figure that out . . .or maybe they did.  They had someone else ask the lapel question.    

  by sourdough60 on Thu Apr 17, 2008 at 10:36:47 AM PDT

•  Here's the other thing, the 'crowd-o-meter'

  that ABC used to show audience support was pro-Clinton, grossly so.

  The corporate media, specifically ABC wants Hillary to continue in this process so badly they are willing to take something as simple as an audience survey that should be fair and twist it to their own purposes.

  I've been pissed off before about boycotting stuff, and I'll admit, rarely does it stick. Exxon was one time, with the Valdez - they lost YEARS my buying of their gas, because I DID go to other stations, instead.

  No one forces me to watch ABC, or buy Disney. And this is one time, I'm sticking to it, and calling on all of you to do the same.

  by shpilk on Thu Apr 17, 2008 at 03:04:00 PM PDT

  •  And the crowd, I hear

    was 4-to-1 Clinton supporters!

    They had to MAKE that happen, didn't they?

    Sheesh!!!

    I started boycotting Exxon years ago, and have never shopped at Wal-Mart; it gets easier with each new boycott.

    by orangeuglad on Thu Apr 17, 2008 at 04:34:52 PM PDT

•  Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore

  While digesting Reader's Digest
  In the back of a dirty book store,
  A plastic flag, with gum on the back,
  Fell out on the floor.
  Well, I picked it up and I ran outside
  Slapped it on my window shield,
  And if I could see old Betsy Ross
  I'd tell her how good I feel.

  Chorus:
  But your flag decal won't get you
  Into Heaven any more.
  They're already overcrowded
  From your dirty little war.
  Now Jesus don't like killin'
  No matter what the reason's for,
  And your flag decal won't get you
  Into Heaven any more.

  Well, I went to the bank this morning
  And the cashier he said to me,
  "If you join the Christmas club
  We'll give you ten of them flags for free."
  Well, I didn't mess around a bit
  I took him up on what he said.
  And I stuck them stickers all over my car
  And one on my wife's forehead.

  Repeat Chorus:

  Well, I got my window shield so filled
  With flags I couldn't see.
  So, I ran the car upside a curb
  And right into a tree.
  By the time they got a doctor down
  I was already dead.
  And I'll never understand why the man
  Standing in the Pearly Gates said...

  "But your flag decal won't get you
  Into Heaven any more.
  We're already overcrowded
  From your dirty little war.
  Now Jesus don't like killin'
  No matter what the reason's for,
  And your flag decal won't get you
  Into Heaven any more."

  The Great John Prine.

  by TomFromNJ on Thu Apr 17, 2008 at 07:24:20 PM PDT