Confederate Flag Is a Flap in GOP Race

The controversy over the Confederate flag at the statehouse has been raging for years in South Carolina, but now it is spilling into the presidential campaign, drawing Texas Gov. George W. Bush and Sen. John McCain of Arizona into the high-profile dispute as they try to court Republican voters in the state.

For Bush and McCain, wading into the racially charged flag issue is a highly unwelcome prospect as they woo conservative voters in the important Feb. 19 South Carolina primary while also trying to appeal to moderate Republicans, women and minorities.

Navigating a political course that does not offend either side is tricky.

For South Carolina, the only state to fly the Confederate battle flag over its Capitol dome, it is a hot issue, pitting those who see it as a symbol of racism and slavery against those, generally older white conservatives, who see it as a symbol of Southern heritage.

The National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People has voted to squeeze the state’s $14.5-billion tourist industry with an economic boycott unless the flag comes down. But when the previous governor, David Beasley, suggested removing the flag, he so angered his conservative Republican base that analysts believe it was a factor in his subsequent electoral defeat.

Bush has sidestepped questions over how he personally views the flag. McCain has said he can see the viewpoints of both sides of the debate. But after Bush was asked about the flag at a Jan. 7 GOP presidential debate in West Columbia--triggering roaring applause when he said the flag’s fate is up to “the people of South Carolina”--both candidates have been pressed on the issue on the campaign trail.

McCain, stumping in Dublin, N.H., took a statement from his pocket Thursday, unfolded it and read it. “I understand both sides,” he said. “Some view it as a symbol of slavery; others view it as a symbol of heritage. Personally, I see the battle flag as a symbol of heritage.

“I have ancestors who have fought for the Confederacy, none of whom owned slaves. I believe they fought honorably,” said McCain, a Navy veteran from a distinguished military family. He said the issue “should be left up to the people of South Carolina.”

“In Arizona, we resented it when outsiders parachuted in to tell us what to do about a Martin Luther King holiday,” said McCain, who voted against the holiday as a congressman in 1983 but reversed his position and later led the effort to adopt it in his state. “I am sure the people of South Carolina feel the same way about outsiders trying to impose their views.”

Just a few days earlier, on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” McCain used slightly stronger terms: “The Confederate flag is offensive in many, many ways, as we all know. It’s a symbol of racism and slavery, but I also understand how others do not view it in that fashion.”

Bush grew testy under questioning over the issue at a press conference in Wilmington, Del., on Wednesday, where he also found himself on the defensive over a campaign rally held the night before at a Charleston plantation once worked by slaves.

“People have strong feelings about that,” Bush said. “Some people feel one way about it, some people feel the other way. The people of South Carolina can make up their own minds.”

He said his refusal to take a stand on the issue sends no bad message.

Political experts said both McCain and Bush, faced with the South’s racial baggage, are trying to chart the same middle ground. McCain views a South Carolina win as crucial and has campaigned vigorously there.

“I think both of them are trying to position themselves so that they don’t look like bigots to the rest of the country, but still can win support from the very substantial number of Republican primary voters in South Carolina that favor the flag,” said Hastings Wyman of the Southern Political Report.

However, the fact that the flag was restored to the statehouse in 1962--officially to mark the centennial of the Civil War--leads many people to view it as a symbol of resistance to the civil rights movement.

“As a white person, I regard it as a symbol of heritage,” Wyman said, adding: “If I were black, I am quite sure I would regard it as insulting, insensitive and offensive.”

Maybe it’s time to search for common symbols, one uncommitted South Carolina voter said at a McCain rally in Camden.

“I want to see more harmony in the state,’ said Paula Paulk, 39, a black veteran and mother of two who is married to a white Vietnam veteran. “That means considering everyone’s feelings. I want my children to grow up in a world that accepts who they are and not be offended by remnants of the past.”

Times staff writers T. Christian Miller and Elizabeth Mehren contributed to this story.