the Republican Presidential Nomination

2 Gods and Generals, a movie about the Civil War, opens with Union and Confederate battle flags.1 The movie reminds us of the fundamental importance of the Civil War to our history. But the Civil War is hardly some distant historical conflict. The past can be made present not only by a movie, but also by a state government that flies the Confederate battle flag. A flag is a “condensational symbol”—a symbol with connotative meaning whose interpretation is affected by emotions from which multiple and conflicting interpretations may emerge (Edelman, 1964; Norton, 2004). Hence, the Confederate battle flag is, to some, a symbol of heritage and history; to others it stands for slavery and segregation (Prince, 2004). The Confederate battle flag is not only a symbol of the Civil War conflict but is also a source of conflict today. In the 2000 presidential nomination contest the Confederate battle flag emerged as an issue in the presidential nomination campaign when candidates were asked whether the battle flag that had flown over the South Carolina statehouse should be taken dow