"No word on whether he's changed his stance on that too."

FTFY.

Are the mods drunk already or is that typo really some sort of meta in-joke I'm just not getting?

As much as I give my dad grief for being a conservative, he's been a conservative as long as I've been alive, which is almost 30 years. I assume he was a conservative even before that, though he admits to voting for McGovern in 1972 because he couldn't stand Nixon.

I've never known my dad to flip-flop on an issue, as in, one election he supports it and the next he doesn't. Not saying he should be President, but it wouldn't kill people to be a bit more consistent, especially if they do want to be President.

Ha, that video is precious. Damn, Mitt hasn't changed one farking iota in TWENTY YEARS.

McCain seemed to have some respectability back in 2000, too.

The search for power can do odd things to men.

Coco LaFemme: As much as I give my dad grief for being a conservative, he's been a conservative as long as I've been alive, which is almost 30 years. I assume he was a conservative even before that, though he admits to voting for McGovern in 1972 because he couldn't stand Nixon.

I've never known my dad to flip-flop on an issue, as in, one election he supports it and the next he doesn't. Not saying he should be President, but it wouldn't kill people to be a bit more consistent, especially if they do want to be President.

My folks are both Democrats. I wouldn't call them liberals, but they were very much in the anti-Nixon camp, both voted against Reagan twice, and both have postgraduate degrees (they're smart, analytic people).

I had to convince my mom on Passover a few years ago that her position that gays should not be allowed to get "married" (though she did support civil unions) is anathema to Democrats' desire to give everyone the same chances and the same protections. The result of that discussion was her saying: "I guess you're right. I don't like it, but you're right." None of the rhetoric about marriage stopped them from voting Gore/Kerry/Obama, though.

Changing your position is not, in and of itself, a bad thing (as Democrats have been saying since 2004, when the stupid "flip-flopper" meme sprung from Rove's diseased brain). Sometimes, you need to change opinions to fit with reality.

Refusing to change beliefs in the face of new information, clinging to beliefs in the face of logic, holding beliefs for any other reason than you believe them - and especially for a candidate for public office, especially national office, and most especially the highest office - reflects a person who shapes reality to fit their philosophy.

So was Barack Obama, until 2009.

Can you imagine what our legal system would be like if it operated the way we demand our politicians operate? As soon as someone was accused of a crime, they'd be screwed because the prosecution would never, ever, under any circumstances stop going after them, even if evidence was found to prove them innocent. Because, you know, changing your stance on something after viewing the evidence, or due to changing circumstances, is totally a sign of weakness and not something that mature, intelligent adults do.

Not that I'm supporting Mitt, mind you, I just don't get this "pig-headed stubbornness regardless of circumstance is the sign of a good politician" attitude our media seems to love.