Republicans Tread Carefully in Criticism of Confederate Flag

Mr. Romney took a similar position when he ran in South Carolina’s primary in 2008. But Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, who was the runner-up in that contest and is a candidate again in 2016, suggested at the time that no one from outside the state should dictate what South Carolina did with the flag. That position, which Mr. Huckabee reiterated Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” is similar to the posture that both George W. Bush and Senator John McCain took in the 2000 nominating race, which Mr. Bush won.