Flip flop or honest change of mind?
I don’t know about you, but I am getting awfully tired of people accusing politicians of flip-flopping on issues. Now, I’m not naive. I know that politicians often change their stances on issues based on which way the political winds are blowing.
But do we want leaders who stick to positions that prove to be unwise? Do we want leaders who fail to recognize that facts and circumstances dictate policy? A tax increase might be wise in one circumstance and unwise in another. Nation building might be wise in one circumstance and unwise in another.
I applaud Barack Obama for giving this wise response yesterday on ABC’s “This Week” to a question about the wisdom of tax increases in a slow economy:
I think we’ve got to take a look and see where the economy is. I mean, the economy is weak right now. The news with Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, I think, along with the unemployment numbers, indicates that we’re fragile.
This is not a flip-flop, people.
We simply must learn to honor and reward politicians who are willing to regularly review their policy positions and change them if necessary based on current circumstances.
Until we as voters stop allowing ourselves to be manipulated by hired gun, campaign propagandists whose only goal is to get their guy elected, we will continue to get leaders who chain themselves to prior positions even when those positions make little sense given the tenor of the times.
For more on this see the AP’s Obama: Recession Could Delay Rescinding Tax Cuts
1 response so far ↓
1 Robert D Flach // Sep 8, 2008 at 10:28 am
PP
I do agree with your statements.
Unfortunately with a politician how can you tell if the position change is indeed a heartfelt one based on an honest review of the situation or just “based on which way the political winds are blowing” and done simply to avoid losing votes?
TWTP
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