During the 2004 presidential campaign, you could buy a pair of flip-flop sandals bearing the image of John Kerry. The product was a droll dig at the Democratic nominee’s penchant for changing his positions— on the Iraq War, the Patriot Act, NAFTA and more. The senator didn’t help himself with a line about funding to rebuild Iraq: “I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it.”
Republicans—and some Democrats—may now be wondering what size flip-flops to order for Joe Biden. He provoked a hail of criticism within his party by saying he supported the Hyde Amendment, which bars the use of federal funds to pay for abortion, except in case of rape, incest or danger to the mother’s life.
Biden’s position was an old one, going back to that forgotten era when Democrats comfortably tolerated dissent on abortion. Sensing serious trouble, he soon did an about-face, stating, “If I believe health care is a right, as I do,
I can no longer support an amendment that makes that right dependent on someone’s ZIP code.”
A sudden reversal on a major issue under heavy pressure can be taken as a symptom of spinelessness. It can also be taken as a shrewd recognition of campaign realities, or even as a welcome sign of open-mindedness on policy. But whatever it reveals, the practice is hardly unique to Biden. Just about all politicians change their positions on some things sooner or later.
Donald Trump used to favor abortion rights and a ban on “assault weapons,” neither of which he supports now. Mitt Romney pounded Barack Obama for a federal health care program that was based on the Massachusetts program created under a governor named . . . Mitt Romney.
If pressed, Biden and others can always fall back on the wisdom of Winston Churchill, who switched parties not once but twice and exhibited no regrets. “Those who never change their minds,” he declared, “never change anything.”