The flag pin issue is important to, among others, veterans who fought under the flag and, to this day, treat it with respect.  It is more than an empty symbol to them (and me).  I have talked to many of them.  I have lived with some of them.  And they don’t understand why a candidate for president would draw some kind of “principled” line against wearing it.  Obama had said that he shows his patriotism in other ways.  It’s not as if wearing the flag pin and showing these other ways are mutually exclusive.  It’s an odd argument.  Others may not think this is a big deal.  That’s fine.  But Obama made a point of not wearing the flag pin, knowing that a point would be made of it, just as he makes a point of not placing his hand over his heart during the playing of the National Anthem.  I find this perplexing, although I won’t obsess over it.  This is not the typical behavior of a presidential candidate.