in politics, people aren't allowed to change their minds

as in, 'kerry voted for the war, then against it, so he's a flip flopper'.

is it still o.k. to change one's mind these days, or does one legally have to keep the same opinions for life?

it's the demonstration of lack of judgement initially that matters.

Talking in general terms - if you go where the wind blows you instead of demonstrating leadership and acuity, you will have a reputation whenever you finally do start demonstrating leadership and acuity.

There is a price for every mistake, whether we like it or not. A good leader is a good leader because he has clearer vision and makes fewer mistakes than ordinary folks.

He screams that he has vision and never makes a mistake. If that makes him a good leader, I'll take a flip flopper any day of the week.

if I can distinguish than the person I who gets my vote better damn sure be able to distinguish.

What was that comment you made anyway? Sounded like half a conversation we haven't had.

We ended up with Bush, part 2, because the perception was that he was a strong leader and that Kerry was a flip-flopper. Perception counts when you are dealing with an uneducated public.

Here at DU there were/are many that cannot deal with the fact that Kerry makes distinctions about his vote on the war. Those minds will never be changed.

but I'm not completely laying the blame for that on Kerry.

You want to know why we ended up with Bush part 2?

It had nothing to do with flip flopping, and everything to do with Clear Channel communications and the white house communications strategy.

If you will recall, Dick Cheney would issue notices that he was going to be campaigning in either Missouri or Kansas or Arkansas and then would appear at Bumfuck 3 AM talk radio stations in central Nebraska and spew the most horrendous pure stream of shit. The broadcasts remained local and under the radar and there were literally hundreds of these "interviews" that he conducted all throughout every rural area of every "important" state he could get to.

We did not rebut these with our own counter strategy of surprise visits, local television and radio interviews, etc., preferring the national route, and as a consequence, nobody in rural areas got to hear Kerry one on one and talking to real farmers NOT in a photo op. We were on a sinking ship that had a thousand holes and our counter strategy was inconsequential, and the MSM had already chosen Bush 2.

Nonetheless I can't be a Kerry apologist - we need someone with the right combination of talent and strategy and charisma to win by a landslide, not win by not losing, or we are destined to lose again.

That is the first I heard of the Cheney broadcasts. I spent last summer and fall at our local HQ. My world revolved around getting Bush out of office. I wasn't paying attention to how the republicans working to get him back in.

I agree that the MSM chose Bush.

and screw anyone who disagrees with me. It's my mind. There are no mind rules.

Now, in public politics it is disconcerting to vote for someone with a certain mindset and then he/she changes his/her mind during their term...

In that case you didn't get what you paid for. But again, there are no mind rules and they can do whatever they want. But they might have trouble getting re-elected!

expediency that makes him unacceptable. That and the fact he is a stereotypical NE liberal.