The Confederate battle flag has proven to be a stumbling block for presidential candidates passing through South Carolina.

During the 2000 GOP presidential primary, the banner caused candidates George W. Bush and U.S. Sen. John McCain a lot of anguish.

Bush finessed the issue, saying South Carolinians should decide the flag's fate. The media hounded him about the flag. At one point, an agitated Bush said he would not answer any more questions about the flag.

McCain got in trouble trying to straddle the issue. One day he called the flag a racist symbol and then retracted that, saying instead that some see it as a racist symbol.

Today, Democratic candidates are struggling with the same issue. All say the banner should be removed from the Capitol grounds and placed in a museum. But they bob and weave when asked if they support the NAACP's economic boycott to protest the flying of the flag on the grounds.

U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri had to put out a clarifying statement after appearing to be indecisive about the flag. He denounced the banner as a divisive symbol and said it shouldn't be allowed to fly anywhere in the United States. He stopped short of endorsing or saying he would honor the boycott, however.

U.S. Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina is the only candidate to say flatly he will honor the boycott. He says he will stay in private homes instead of hotels on visits to the state. Meanwhile, his staff is trying to correct a media report that Edwards endorses the boycott. He's just honoring it, they insist.

Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut also are wrestling with the boycott issue. Both say they need more time to study it.

Lieberman says he wants to talk to flag opponents to get a broader range of opinions on the subject. He has conferred with U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, the state's highest-ranking Democrat, who opposes the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People boycott.

But Lieberman raises a good point. How can candidates campaign in this state and boycott the economy?

They can't.

Candidates must spend money here to lease office space, advertise on local television and radio stations, rent cars, hire caterers for political events, and eat.

Senior advisers to U.S. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts are pooh-poohing an earlier report that his staff has been ordered to honor the boycott by staying in private homes. Kerry, who is campaigning in Columbia and Charleston today, can set the record straight on that issue.

James Gallman, president of the S.C. NAACP, says he'd be happy to discuss the boycott with the candidates. Thus far, he says, none has approached him.

The NAACP doesn't endorse candidates, but it educates members on what the issues are and how the candidates stand on them.

"If Edwards is in favor of what we're doing, we're going to let our people know about it," Gallman said.

The flag issue is attracting lots of attention in this first-in-the-South primary. It will be the first contest involving a sizable black vote and demonstrate a candidate's ability to attract blacks.

Whoever captures the largest share of the black vote will win, experts say.

In his travels across the state, Lieberman has found voters worried about the economy, education, and health care. Not one voter has asked him about the flag, he says.

And there might be good reason.

The flag has nothing to do with being president.

"Nothing," says state Sen. Kay Patterson, D-Richland, a lifelong NAACP member.