Obama Behind by 33 Points Dumps American Flag Pin

Barack Obama is now trailing the non-lesbian Hillary Clinton by 33 points in the latest polls. You'd think at this point he wouldn't go looking for reasons to make people dislike him, but you'd be wrong:

An eagle-eyed reporter for the ABC affiliate in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, noticed something missing from Democratic presidential contender Sen. Barack Obama's, D-Ill., lapels.

"You don't have the American flag pin on. Is that a fashion statement?" the reporter asked, at the end of a brief interview with Sen. Obama, D-Ill. "Those have been on politicians since September 12, 2001."

The standard political reply to that question might well have been, "My patriotism speaks for itself."

But Obama didn't say that.

Instead the Illinois senator answered the question at length, explaining that he no longer wears such a pin, at least in part, because of the Iraq war.

"You know, the truth is that right after 9/11, I had a pin," Obama said. "Shortly after 9/11, particularly because as we're talking about the Iraq war, that became a substitute for I think true patriotism, which is speaking out on issues that are of importance to our national security, I decided I won't wear that pin on my chest.

"Instead," he said, "I'm going try to tell the American people what I believe will make this country great, and hopefully that will be a testimony to my patriotism."

How in the world does that move make sense politically unless you've thrown yourself fully at the mercy of the wacky antiwar/anti-American left? He certainly has made every attempt to go left of Hillary on the war and other issues, but this kind of thing tends to be remembered when general election time comes around and you need votes from moderates and conservatives.

Granted, a pin is just a pin and doesn't necessarily reflect anyone's true feelings. It's just that you'd think that a guy who wants to be the leader of the country wouldn't even think twice about wearing the national symbol and certainly wouldn't spend his time coming up with a tortured excuse not to wear it.