It is no secret that Senator Evan Bayh is planning to run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008. Bayh has been making special trips and making all the contacts that are typically established in preparation for a campaign for President.

That makes his vote yesterday in favor of an amendment to ban flag burning all the more confusing. If Evan Bayh really believes that there is a large Democratic constituency that is eager to limit freedom of speech, he is making a serious miscalculation.

But then, Senator Bayh’s political miscalculation is a common one among Democratic Leadership Council members who aspire to become President. These right wing Democrats tend to be pathologically obsessed with capturing a mythical beast: The Republican crossover voter. As Senator Joseph Lieberman did in 2004, Senator Bayh seems to be attempting to build a presidential campaign around the idea that only he can appeal to both Democrats and Republicans.

In doing so, Bayh is forgetting that most Democrats are in no mood for a Republican-lite candidate these days. He is making the same mistake that Joseph Lieberman made in 2004: Moving on to the general election before the Democratic primary season has even begun.

Republican voters tend to support radical schemes like a ban on burning the flag. Democratic voters, on the other hand, see through such false patriotism. Democratic voters understand that true patriotism is expressed through the defense of freedom itself, not in the worship of a piece of cloth.

Democrats are tired of having Republicans attacking freedom in the name of freedom. For that reason, Evan Bayh’s support for a flag-burning ban in the Constitution can only damage the early progress of his presidential campaign - unless he plans to switch parties and run for President as a Republican.