Flip-flopping: In politics, a mind can be a terrible thing to change

… Attack ads featuring spinning weather vanes and double-talking candidates have become a staple of American campaigns, but consultants who make those ads say the flip-flopper charge doesn’t always stick — and no one has a formula to predict exactly when it will. … “Voters tend to be fair-minded about this kind of thing,” said Geoff Garin, a longtime Democratic pollster and strategist. “Voters look for obvious motive, for cravenness. You get extra demerits for being a repeat offender.” [cont.]

Marc Fisher, Washington Post