Changing Minds

Politicians live in a world of terrible expectations. Everything they do gets attacked for one reason or another. One item in particular is known as "flip-flopping." Any time a politician changes his stance on an issue, he is accused of this.

Now, this gripe is often legitimate, since politicians have the reputation of changing their position to suit the tastes of a particular audience, but this isn't the case 100% of the time. Sometimes they legitimately have a reason to change their minds; the electorate, however, won't stand for this. We seem to want to have a politician who is firm and unmovable in their viewpoint, no matter what. Even if their assumption turns out to be wrong, we often think that if they change their minds, this is a sign of some kind of weakness.

Our government process, however, requires the changing of minds to function. If everyone in Congress stuck with their first impression whenever they voted, they would quickly bury our country in poorly thought-out legislation. They need to be able to move between ideas in order to keep our country moving forward. However, by doing so, they open themselves up to criticism about being unsteady.