31.   Beasley later said the flag issue contributed to his defeat last year.

32.   But transportation analyst Richard Brakenhoff said the flag issue is at heart political and KLM is playing the balancing act.

33.   He said South Carolina will set the stage for how other states deal with the flag issue.

34.   In an earlier breakfast speech, Gore criticized the Republican presidential field generally on the flag issue.

35.   The commission is expected to ask the Legislature to put the flag issue and its design to voters after convening in January.

36.   The Confederate flag issue has been a controversial topic in other states.

37.   The flag issue came up in the opening moments of a debate Friday in South Carolina among Republican presidential candidates.

38.   The flag issue flared briefly during the presidential campaign, when Bush and McCain were competing for votes in the South Carolina Republican primary in February.

39.   The flag issue came up in the opening moments of a debate among Republican presidential candidates, held a few miles away from the rally.

40.   The leading candidates, Gov. George W. Bush and Arizona Sen. John McCain, have both said the flag issue should be decided by South Carolinians.