6.27.2008

Flip flopping won't matter this year

“I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it.” - Sen. Kerry (Check out the "Top 10" flip flops of Kerry)

Those words are probably what sealed the fate of Sen. Kerry in November 2004 and the over arching charge of "flip flopping". The American people were not necessarily thrilled about President Bush, but in the uncertain times of a post-September 11th America, they polled the lever for Bush over Kerry.

Fast forward to 2008. The tediously long primary season has opened the candidates to an increased opportunity of hypocrisy. McCain was against off shore drilling, before he was for it. (His explanation seems to make sense to me, but that is another post...) I am sure there are more flip flops of the 2008 season that McCain has made, but Obama has flipped and flopped so dramatically on a wide range of issues. And not just stances on policies, but things like where he attends Church with his family.

Krauthammer documents these eloquently per usual. I'll let him explain them rather than try to clumsily reclaim his thoughts as my own here.

3 comments:

Zach said...

the charge of flip-flopping is a good way to distract from having a real conversation about something

Dave said...

Not necessarily. What does it matter if you have a conversation with someone and the next day they have a completely different mindset. You can't take their words seriously.

Zach said...

Yeah. The charge is not entirely meaningless.

I'd prefer, rather than calling someone a "flip-flopper", if we'd ask them to explain themselves.

Perhaps it's possible to do both!