Does Kerry really Flip Flop all the time? Is Bush really any different?
The answers to those two questions: "No" and "No"
The Bush campaign has spent millions of dollars trying to sell the idea that John Kerry is a Flip Flop while Bush is a resolute leader who sticks to his position. Don’t believe the hype.
John Kerry has been accused of flip flopping on the question of Iraq. But did Kerry change his position, or did the situation change? He voted for the resolution authorizing Bush to use force in Iraq if necessary. The Bush campaign claims he flip flopped when he voted against the 87 billion dollar spending bill for funding for the War in Iraq. Is that really a flip flop
though? A lot happened in between those two votes. Bush promised he would exhaust all means to avoid the use of force before going to war. He didn't. Bush went into Iraq without enough troops to manage the country after the fall of Saddam. And Bush made a series of bad decisions in Iraq, such as trying to arrest Shiite cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr during a Shiite holiday, exacerbating the guerrilla insurgency. When Bush came to Congress for 87 billion more dollars to fight the war in Iraq, Kerry basically said: no more blank checks. Kerry said he would vote for the $87 billion dollars if Bush agreed to repeal the tax cut for the wealthy, but Bush refused to do so. Bush had recklessly spent American lives and American taxpayer money in Iraq. Kerry simply said that he wasn't going to vote to give Bush a blank check to spend more money recklessly in Iraq.
That's not a flip flop - it's a very reasonable response to changing circumstances.
When the Bush campaign accuses Kerry of flip flopping, they almost always refer to an issue in which the situation has changed and therefore Kerry's position has changed.
But when Bush changes his mind, more often than not it is for nothing more than
political reasons. See the complete list of Bush flip flops for a long list of examples: free trade, the 9/11 commission, Fallujah, the homeland security department…the list goes on and on.
It is true that on many issues Bush has been stubborn (or resolute if you prefer), but too often he is stubborn on issues where changing circumstances should lead to a change in policy -such as in Iraq and in the case of tax cuts and the deficit.
Bush should not be president because he lacks the judgement to know when to change his mind and when to be resolute.
For more on the comparison between the two candidates, see these articles:
Who's the Flip-Flopper?
Face It: Every politician flip-flops
Bush Ad Twists Kerry's Words on Iraq
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