Said That vs. Meant This, a Hot Matchup for '08
TO hear the presidential candidates tell it, this has been a great year for “personal evolution.” Less self-interested parties have considered it the season of the “flip-flop.”
The flip-flop is not a new ingredient in presidential politics. But it is especially pronounced this year, with every major candidate getting into the act in some way....
Their success often depends on the public mood, the moment in history and whether the charges feed into existing doubts about a candidate.
But, said Prof. Bruce Schulman, a historian at Boston University who has studied the question, “One man’s flip-flop can be another man’s ‘admirable flexibility.’ ”
Herbert Hoover attacked Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932 as a “chameleon in plaid” for a series of policy shifts. But Mr. Roosevelt portrayed his new positions as pragmatic and necessary to fight the Depression. Americans seeking deliverance were willing to buy it, Professor Schulman said.
He added that two of history’s greatest flip-flops belonged to Abraham Lincoln, who reversed his 1860 campaign positions against an invasion of the South, and against meddling with slavery in the states. Of course, many of those who would have punished him in 1864 were, by then, Confederates, who would not be voting in the Union elections.
Read entire article at NYT
The flip-flop is not a new ingredient in presidential politics. But it is especially pronounced this year, with every major candidate getting into the act in some way....
Their success often depends on the public mood, the moment in history and whether the charges feed into existing doubts about a candidate.
But, said Prof. Bruce Schulman, a historian at Boston University who has studied the question, “One man’s flip-flop can be another man’s ‘admirable flexibility.’ ”
Herbert Hoover attacked Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932 as a “chameleon in plaid” for a series of policy shifts. But Mr. Roosevelt portrayed his new positions as pragmatic and necessary to fight the Depression. Americans seeking deliverance were willing to buy it, Professor Schulman said.
He added that two of history’s greatest flip-flops belonged to Abraham Lincoln, who reversed his 1860 campaign positions against an invasion of the South, and against meddling with slavery in the states. Of course, many of those who would have punished him in 1864 were, by then, Confederates, who would not be voting in the Union elections.