No Flag Pin For McCain

These topics are trivial in the long run. And Democrats would be hard pressed to make an issue out of this when they've been bemoaning the use of it against Barack Obama. But the McCain campaign made a small but significant tactical mistake tonight when they sent their candidate out to speak without adorning a flag pin.

The "he-doesn't-wear-a-flag-pin" charge works only in the context of a larger attack on that candidate's patriotism. And in this election, McCain will almost assuredly never be charged of not exhibiting a requisite amount of love for country (did someone say "country first"?). But those critics of Obama who have highlighted the absence of a pin on his lapel now have little to zero ammunition on this front.