Eight years after the issue popped up in the 2000 campaign John McCain is once again faced with the confederate flag in South Carolina. Used as a wedge issue by George W. Bush against him, in 2000 John McCain did not call for the removal of a confederate flag that flew over a South Carolina statehouse. It was a decision he later admitted was fueled by politics and not personal belief, the one issue he claimed he was dishonest about in a campaign that was run under the guise that McCain was the “straight talk” candidate.

After the election McCain admitted his real belief that the flag should be taken down, it eventually was.

Today McCain was faced with protestors who waved the rebel flag outside stops in Greenville and Spartanburg. The protestors also handed out literature reminding voters of McCain’s position in 2000.

The Arizona Senator said in response that he was pleased with the “majority” of South Carolinians who agreed the flag should have been taken down and said he believed voters did not want to dredge up the old issue.