A requiem for a flip-flop
Frank Fraser
Issue date: 9/15/08 Section: Op-Ed
McCain supported a major campaign-finance reform measure that bore his name. In June 2006, he abandoned his own legislation.
And McCain opposed torture, but then caved to White House demands.
For more on McCain's flip-flopping ways, feel free to visit Benen's website, www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/flipflops, or do your own research.
So where does this leave us, the bewildered voters?
We have to recognize that politicians, and people everywhere, often change their minds in light of new evidence or changing situations. Flip-flopping isn't always a detestable political move, yet mainstream media outlets often broadcast a politician's change of opinion in the simplest terms possible: the anchorperson reports Obama flip-flopped today, and suddenly voters are disgusted and change their minds about voting for a candidate (see the irony here?). I say we let the term flip-flop die with dignity. Let's put an end to the political use of flip-flop as a verb (Obama flip-flopped today), adjective (The flip-flopping McCain announced…), or noun (Palin is a flip-flopper).
This election leaves us in a position to take a chance on either politician. Do we want the hardened war hero, or the optimistic ivy-league community organizer? Both candidates are flip-floppers…pardon me-thoughtful opinion restructurers-and both candidates will probably thoughtfully restructure their positions after the election.
Frank Fraser is a West Chester graduate student. He can be reached at FF57814@wcupa.edu.
And McCain opposed torture, but then caved to White House demands.
For more on McCain's flip-flopping ways, feel free to visit Benen's website, www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/flipflops, or do your own research.
So where does this leave us, the bewildered voters?
We have to recognize that politicians, and people everywhere, often change their minds in light of new evidence or changing situations. Flip-flopping isn't always a detestable political move, yet mainstream media outlets often broadcast a politician's change of opinion in the simplest terms possible: the anchorperson reports Obama flip-flopped today, and suddenly voters are disgusted and change their minds about voting for a candidate (see the irony here?). I say we let the term flip-flop die with dignity. Let's put an end to the political use of flip-flop as a verb (Obama flip-flopped today), adjective (The flip-flopping McCain announced…), or noun (Palin is a flip-flopper).
This election leaves us in a position to take a chance on either politician. Do we want the hardened war hero, or the optimistic ivy-league community organizer? Both candidates are flip-floppers…pardon me-thoughtful opinion restructurers-and both candidates will probably thoughtfully restructure their positions after the election.
Frank Fraser is a West Chester graduate student. He can be reached at FF57814@wcupa.edu.
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