The truth about "flip flopping"

Now that both candidates have spent considerable time under the limelight of the media and both have had a chance to revise their initial policies or at least the chance to look like they did. (Obama on the possibility of drilling, McCain on how long we stay in Iraq) These perceived changes have some people calling either candidate an ugly word coined in 2004 against Kerry, "flip flopper".
The title gives people the immediate impression of a fish out of water, flapping desperately against its inevitable demise. This phrase does not do justice to when a politician legitimately changes a position on a subject that Americans have changed their minds on as well.

Say you are the leader of a twenty man business group. Originally you and twelve of your group supported sending your quarterly reports as a fax instead of an e-mail but now only three people have your position and the rest demand e-mail reports. A good leader in this situation would sense that he doesn't speak for the majority and change his position. Why would we bother calling a leader in this situation a "flip flopper" when that twenty person group becomes the country. "Flip flopping" in most situations is just a terrible synonym for what is really happening, a leader staying in touch. Let's look back in history at some famous "flip floppers"and their "stick to your guns" cowboy counterparts.

Our first "flip flopper" is president Abraham Lincoln. Abe ran on the policy of allowing slavery but curbing its expansion. Later on during the American Civil War, Abe would find his position on slavery changing to abolition. Did we call Abe a flip-flopper? Actually, many at the time did call him the equivalent, but our country is better off with his changed position.

Now Lyndon B. Johnson was a man who stuck to his guns. He inherited a war that had 16,000 American troops in Vietnam. Much against the growing discontent of the war, Johnson grew our troop commitment in a series of surges to 550,000 at its height. The result, thousands of American lives lost and at the cost of not looking as Johnson called it "weak".

Woodrow Wilson, supposed flip-flopper, ran on a second term platform of staying out of World War One at all costs. After several attacks on US interests by German submarines, he was compelled to enter the war against his original position. The end result? We participate in a war that is later looked on as the war to end all wars and even though it wasn't, the seeds of NATO are planted.

Andrew Jackson was a cowboy with convictions. Jackson ran on a policy known as "Indian removal" and he stuck to it. He kept his Indian removal policy even when the supreme court ruled in the favor of the one of the tribes to be removed. Andrew Jackson was a "strong" leader who would not be swayed by the supreme court or public opinion. What do we call the result? The Trail of Tears.

So the next time someone calls your candidate a "flip flopper", just remember these famous examples and remind that someone that "flip flopping" has done more good than harm in our nation's history.