Hillary’s Latest Principle ‘Trade’

She was for it — loudly — before she was against it. That pretty much sums up Hillary Clinton’s “evolving” position on President Obama’s 12nation TransPacific Partnership trade deal.

Mind you, TPP had no stronger advocate than Secretary of State Clinton, who called it “the gold standard in trade agreements” that, when finalized, would provide “strong protections for workers and the environment.”

Just a few months back, UN Ambassador Susan Rice cited Clinton’s “instrumental” role in advancing TPP as one of Hillary’s top three achievements at State.

Oops: Now Clinton insists she never actually worked on the deal.

Oh, and she’s against it — as best she can tell, anyway. “As of today,” she told PBS’ Judy Woodruff Wednesday, “I am not in favor of what I have learned about it.”

All of a sudden, it seems, she’s discovered that TPP would “kill American jobs” and put “the interests of drug companies ahead of patients and consumers.”

That’s nonsense — but it’s music to the ears of the hardleft, prounion wing of her party, which is dead set against free trade. Plus, potential opponent Joe Biden would have to defend the accord.

The real bottom line: Hillary desperately needs some good news on the campaign trail — or any news that isn’t about her email mess or other scandals.

The turnaround on trade may score her some shortterm benefit. But it also feeds her larger problem — the growing number of voters who say they don’t trust her.

After all, this follows her flipflop on the Keystone XL pipeline, though that one was about appeasing the party’s green wing.

This latest astonishing reversal is fresh confirmation that Hillary Clinton makes decisions solely to serve her immediate political interests. She has no core beliefs — other than her own naked ambition.

We don’t agree with Bernie Sanders on much, but it’s obvious that he stands firmly by his beliefs — and the reason he’s such a threat to Hillary is that that’s something she doesn’t even know how to do.