Flip-flop wars between Hillary and Obama

Washington Post:

Last week's Democratic debate in Austin had been underway for less than half an hour when Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign zipped an e-mail to reporters headlined "Obama flip-flop on Cuba." The message noted that Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) had backtracked on earlier calls for normalizing relations with Havana, now making such a step contingent on progress toward democracy.

The Obama camp struck back minutes later with a message pointing out that Clinton (N.Y.) had changed her position on immigration. She was now calling for legislation giving undocumented workers a path to citizenship to be introduced within 100 days of her inauguration -- after earlier refusing to make such a commitment.

Charges of flip-flopping have become routine as the Democratic nominating contest heads to a crucial series of primaries and caucuses on March 4 in Texas, Ohio, Vermont and Rhode Island. While Obama and Clinton have largely succeeded in escaping the flip-flopper label that was pinned on Republican candidate and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, they have provided each other with plenty of ammunition for accusations of inconsistency and pandering to the voters.

A review of the two candidates' records shows that both senators have shifted positions on numerous issues as the competition for votes has become more intense. In some cases, the shifts have been subtle, a change of emphasis rather than an obvious reversal. But on other issues, both candidates are saying things that are quite different from their previous positions.

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The article cites many examples of the "evolving" positions on various issues. This is what happens when your only core belief is electoral viability. You want hear either of these candidates say they would rather lose and election than lose a war. In fact they argue mainly over how fast to lose the war in Iraq. They flip flop because each new focus group and each new poll redefines their "core" beliefs.