No shame in a change of mind
Are candidates who change their positions wrong for doing so? It depends. If they do it for reasons of personal avarice — because, say, they’ve been paid off to do it — yes, undoubtedly. If they do it solely because they believe there’s political gain to be had in flipping, probably. But if they do it because they sincerely change their minds on an issue (perhaps in light of new developments, say, or clear evidence that their previous position is no longer tenable), then perhaps not.
When Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker came into office, his first few budgets funded Common Core educational standards; now, after seeing the scheme in action, he opposes Common Core.
Sen. Marco Rubio famously worked with the so-called Gang of 8 to develop an immigration reform bill that offered a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants already in the U.S.; now he says he understands and shares the concerns of the broad majority of the American people, who believe that before any discussion of what to do about illegal immigrants can take place, the border must first be secured — and must be se- cured long enough, and well enough, that the American people believe it has been well and truly secured.
Did Walker and Rubio “flipflop”? Or did their thinking on these issues merely change, as they spent more time learning about the issues in question, and had more conversations with thoughtful advisers and — dare we say it — regular American citizens? We honestly don’t know. We
do know we’ll be watching them closely, as we’ll watch the other candidates seeking to earn our support.
What will we be looking for from those who have changed their stance on issues? A convincing demonstration that regardless of where one has been, one is now in the right place (see what we did there, with the double entendre?) and is determined to remain there, come hell or high water.
Flip-flopping isn’t necessarily a killer. After all, even Ronald Reagan — the most conservative Republican president of my lifetime — changed his mind, and on a pretty big issue, at that. He was once a Democrat, remember?