McCain used to champion the Law of the Sea convention, even volunteering to testify on the treaty’s behalf before a Senate committee. Now he opposes it.
* McCain was a co-sponsor of the DREAM Act, which would grant legal status to illegal immigrants’ kids who graduate from high school. Now he’s against it.
* In 2006, McCain sponsored legislation to require grassroots lobbying coalitions to reveal their financial donors. In 2007, after receiving “feedback” on the proposal, McCain told far-right activist groups that he now opposes the measure.
* McCain has been both open and closed to a redeploy-to-perimeter strategy in Iraq.
* McCain said before the war in Iraq, “We will win this conflict. We will win it easily.” Four years later, McCain said he knew all along that the war in Iraq war was “probably going to be long and hard and tough.”
* McCain said he was the “greatest critic” of Rumsfeld’s failed Iraq policy. In December 2003, McCain praised the same strategy as “a mission accomplished.” In March 2004, he said, “I’m confident we’re on the right course.” In December 2005, he said, “Overall, I think a year from now, we will have made a fair amount of progress if we stay the course.”
* McCain went from saying he would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade to saying the exact opposite.
* McCain went from saying gay marriage should be allowed, to saying gay marriage shouldn’t be allowed.
* McCain criticized TV preacher Jerry Falwell as “an agent of intolerance” in 2002, but then decided to cozy up to the man who said Americans “deserved” the 9/11 attacks.
* McCain used to oppose Bush’s tax cuts for the very wealthy, but he reversed course in February.
* In 2000, McCain accused Texas businessmen Sam and Charles Wyly of being corrupt, spending “dirty money” to help finance Bush’s presidential campaign. McCain not only filed a complaint against the Wylys for allegedly violating campaign finance law, he also lashed out at them publicly. In April, McCain reached out to the Wylys for support.
* McCain supported a major campaign-finance reform measure that bore his name. In June, he abandoned his own legislation.
* McCain used to think that Grover Norquist was a crook and a corrupt shill for dictators. Then McCain got serious about running for president and began to reconcile with Norquist.
* McCain took a firm line in opposition to torture, and then caved to White House demands.
* McCain opposed a holiday to honor Martin Luther King, Jr., before he supported it.
* McCain was against presidential candidates campaigning at Bob Jones University before he was for it.
* McCain was anti-ethanol. Now he’s pro-ethanol.
* McCain was both for and against state promotion of the Confederate flag.
* McCain decided in 2000 that he didn’t want anything to do with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, believing he “would taint the image of the ‘Straight Talk Express.’” Kissinger is now the Honorary Co-Chair for his presidential campaign in New York.
Now, it’s worth noting that there are worse qualities in a presidential candidate than changing one’s mind about a policy matter or two. McCain has been in Congress for decades; he’s bound to shift now and then on various controversies.
But therein lies the point — McCain was consistent on most of these issues, right up until he started running for president, at which point he conveniently abandoned practically every position he used to hold. The problem isn’t just the incessant flip-flops; it’s the shameless pandering and hollow convictions behind the incessant flip-flops.
It’s a shame what running for the Republican nomination will do to a guy, isn’t it?|||He makes John Kerry look like an immovable object. But when Karl Rove speaks, Johnnie boy listens -- and flip-flops. Just like W.|||Not as bad as Obama.|||Not at all! He is our next President, Thank You! Weak try, liberal!|||McCain makes Pizza, not burger patties !|||Mccain is sexist, anti-gay, anti-abortion, and pro-war. Mccain is a CONTROL FREAK! America is not a DICTATORSHIP!|||Is McCain a politician..Of course he%26#039;s a flip-flopper, all politicians are...However, seeing as how McCain has served more than a quarter of a term as a Senator, I%26#039;m sure you can find more examples of his screw-ups than Obama%26#039;s.|||Yes. And with all of that he is STILL a better choice than Obama|||Don%26#039;t worry, Obama is going to be the next President anyways.|||---
Have you ever changed your mind?
Have you always been pro-abortion or anti-abortion?
Have you always been democratic or republican?
He%26#039;s in his 70%26#039;s !!! Of course he%26#039;d change his mind in all those years. That%26#039;s the problem with Bush, he sticks with his intial belief and goes on that no matter what.|||Amen! The republicans didn%26#039;t pick their candidate well, did they?|||Yes, he is.
And no, Obama is not.|||I find it commendable that he is willing to change his mind when it becomes apparent that he has taken the wrong stand on an issue. %26quot;W%26quot; on the other hand, has steadfastly refused to either admit a mistake or change his direction when it is patently obvious he has made an error in judgment. If you don%26#039;t see that as a big improvement over the current administration, you are blindly naive.
I see it as much more acceptable than pulling a Billary or Obama stunt and simply changing your stands to impress whatever audience is in front of you at the moment. Other than socialism, I don%26#039;t see how you can tell what either of them stands for beyond innocuous platitudes about %26quot;hope%26quot; and %26quot;change%26quot;.|||He wears flip-flops.|||Rubbish!! MORE propaganda by you out-of-left-field Obama supporters!
Get a life!|||One clear advantage to being Obama is that he has no record to have to defend, he has made no decisions to change and has yet to take a clear stand on anything. Since Obama has yet to %26quot;flip%26quot; he cannot possibly %26quot;flop%26quot;. How this makes him superior in anyones opinion is beyond me.
It seems Obama has been pretty successful sticking to the basic tenet: %26quot;If you do nothing, you do nothing wrong%26quot;.
*|||Perhaps, but there%26#039;s also the concept of the nuanced position. The devil tends to be in the details, so the more time you have in office, the more positions you%26#039;ll have that seem changed even when they aren%26#039;t.|||Well most republicans due to the fact most never completed High School like Rush Limbaugh will think Obama flip flops more which he doesn%26#039;t. All politicians have to shift their stances once in awhile but if you look carefuly at Obama%26#039;s voting record and compare it to McCain%26#039;s you%26#039;ll notice a lot of flip flops on McCain%26#039;s record while Obama%26#039;s is far less.
Obama has been pretty consistent with most things. Switching positions like McCain has sounds pretty dubious to me.|||WTF - you want logical consistency from a politician?!?
You really need to go back to Real Life 101 and PASS IT THIS TIME!!!
