From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Flip-flop (politics)
Flip-flop (politics)
flip-flop"
A "flip-flop (used mostly in the United States), U-turn Lorimer in 1902: "... when a fellow’s turning flip-flops up
(used in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland), among the clouds, he’s naturally going to have the farm-
or backflip (used in Australia and New Zealand) is a sud- ers gaping at him.") In the late 19th century, a U.S. politi-
den real or apparent change of policy or opinion by a cian was called "the Florida flopper" by an opponent,
public official, sometimes while trying to claim that both Safire noted. The "fl" sound appearing twice is an indi-
positions are consistent with each other. Often it will oc- cation of ridicule, he wrote. Citing grammarian Randolph
cur during the period prior to or following an election in Quirk, Safire pointed out that the doubling of the sound
order to maximize the candidate’s popularity. is also a feature in other two-word phrases used to dis-
Although the terms are often used against elected of- parage the actions or words of others, including "mumbo
ficials, non-elected public officials can also be accused of jumbo", "wishy-washy", and higgledy-piggledy".[2]
flip-flopping. Ben Bernanke, chairman of the U.S. Feder- In the archives of The New York Times, which go back
al Reserve Board, was accused of "an apparent flip-flop" to 1851, the earliest unequivocal mention of "flip-flop" as
in 2007.[1] Lawyers sometimes accuse their opponents of a change in someone’s opinion, is in an October 23, 1890,
a flip-flopping, too. report of a campaign speech in New York City. John W.
Goff, candidate for district attorney, said of one of his op-
Examples ponents: "I would like to hear Mr. Nicoll explain his great
flip-flop, for three years ago, you know, as the Republican
The charge was originally used to attack politicians for candidate for District Attorney, he bitterly denounced
advocating contradictory policies, often during elections, Tammany as a party run by bosses and in the interest of
and frequently while denying the self-contradiction. bossism. [...] Nicoll, who three years ago was denouncing
• : "Candidate A, after finding out that weapons of Tammany, is its candidate to-day."[3]
mass destruction won’t likely be found in Iraq, flip- The term was also used in 1967, when a New York
flopped to keep Candidate B from using his previous Times editorial and Times columnist Tom Wicker both
stance against him." used it in commenting on different events, and in the
• : "During his previous campaign, Candidate B 1976 election, President Gerald Ford used the phrase
promised to regulate the greenhouse gas carbon against his opponent Jimmy Carter.[4] In the 1988 U.S.
dioxide as a pollutant, but declined to do so after presidential election, Michael Dukakis used the term
taking office. Candidate A could now cite this as a against opponent Richard Gephardt, saying, "There’s a
flip-flop." flip-flopper over here", pointing at Gephardt.[2]
The charge has more recently been used to attack politi- The term also was used extensively in the 2004 U.S.
cians and in some cases other public figures for any presidential election campaign. It was used by critics as a
change of policy for any reason whatsoever, including catch-phrase attack on John Kerry, claiming he was "flip-
new information becoming available or a change in cir- flopping" his stance on several issues, including the on-
cumstances. Such changes in policy sometimes provoke going war in Iraq. Famously, on March 16, 2004 during
charges that a public figure lacks political conviction. an appearance at Marshall University Kerry tried to ex-
• : "C opposed the treaty on greenhouse gas emissions plain his vote for an $87 billion supplemental appropri-
but has since changed his mind". An opponent of C ation for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan by
might describe this as a ’flip-flop’ while C might telling the crowd "I actually did vote for the $87 billion,
claim that both positions were based on his before I voted against it." After the remark became con-
interpretation of evidence at the time. troversial, he explained that he had supported an earlier
• : Some well known political figures have been known Democratic measure that would have paid for the $87 bil-
to "flip-flop". 2004 Democratic presidential nominee lion in war funding by reducing Bush’s tax cuts.[5] Fac-
John Kerry was often criticized for doing this, as was tCheck stated that "Kerry has never wavered from his
2008 Republican nomination candidate Mitt Romney. support for giving Bush authority to use force in Iraq, nor
has he changed his position that he, as President, would
History not have gone to war without greater international sup-
port."[6]
In his "On Language" column in The New York Times, Wil- The term "U-turn" in the UK was famously applied
liam Safire wrote in 1988 that "flip-flop" has a long his- to Edward Heath, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
tory as a synonym for "somersault". (He cited George
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Flip-flop (politics)
from 1970 to 1974. Prior to the 1970 general election, imate response to a difficult position."[8] The same gen-
the Conservative Party compiled a manifesto which high- eral point was made in 1988 by New York Times editori-
lighted free-market economic policies. Heath abandoned al columnist Tom Wicker, writing shortly after Dukakis’
such policies when his government nationalised British charge against Gephardt. Wicker commented that the ac-
Leyland (hence the actual "U-turn"). The Conservative cusation was not necessarily fair: "What’s wrong with a
government was later attacked for such a move because Presidential candidate changing his position — though
nationalisation was seen (by the Thatcher era) as anti- his opponents call it ’flip-flopping’ — in order to improve
thetical to Conservative beliefs. This later led to one of his chances of winning? Nothing’s wrong with it [...] un-
Margaret Thatcher’s most famous phrases: "you turn [U- less the flipper [...] denies having done it," Wicker added
turn] if you want to. The lady’s not for turning". that the charge can be "a tortured or dishonest interpre-
tation of an opponent’s record".[2]
Exculpatory, ameliorating and "[T]here’s a difference between changing your policy
position and breaking a promise," John Dickerson, wrote
aggravating circumstances af- in Slate online magazine. "Breaking a promise is a prob-
lem of a higher order than changing a policy position.
fecting public reaction Our mothers told us not to break promises [...]"[9]
The circumstances surrounding the flip-flop and its larg- James Pethokoukis, the "money and politics blogger"
er context can be crucial factors in whether or not a for U.S. News & World Report online, referring to 2008 pres-
politician is hurt or helped more by a change in position. idential candidate John McCain, noted that in changing a
"Long hailed as a conservative champion, Ronald Reagan position a candidate can "trot out that famous John May-
could shrug off his support of a tax increase in 1982 to nard Keynes line, ’When the facts change, I change my
curb the budget deficits his 1981 tax cut had exacerbat- mind. What do you do, sir?’"[10] The Keynes quote also
ed," according to an analysis of flip-flopping in The New has been mentioned by other commentators with regard
York Times. "Long suspect on the Republican right, Ge- to flip-flops, including James Broder, in a 2007 article in
orge [H. W.] Bush faced a crippling 1992 primary chal- The International Herald-Tribune.[1]
lenge after abandoning his ’no new taxes’ campaign
pledge in the White House."[7] Non-political use
"Flip-flops are important when they reinforce a larg-
er narrative about a candidate’s negative attribute", Outside of politics the use of the term is not as pejorative.
Kevin Madden, a senior official in the 2008 Republican A scientist or mathematician can often obtain some ex-
presidential primary campaign of Massachusetts Gov. perimental results or logical proofs which cause him/her
Mitt Romney. Romney was hurt by changing positions on to flip flop on a previously held belief. Example: "I always
many issues, including abortion, taxes and health care assumed that there was an infinity, that all infinite num-
because his motives were suspected by conservative vot- bers were equal, but I have flip flopped on that since I
ers.[7] saw Georg Cantor’s proof." Lewis Eigen, in his essay on
Kerry’s perceived equivocation on the Iraq war dam- the cultural difference between politics and scientists,
aged his 2004 campaign, according to both Democratic observes, "To the scientist, failure to flip-flop in the face
and Republican political operatives. "It spoke to a pattern of contradictory evidence is irrational and dangerous be-
of calculation and indecisiveness that make him look like havior. And scientists will often flip-flop at almost light
a weak commander in chief compared to [George W.] speed. Often it takes only a single observation to flip-flop
Bush", said Jonathan Prince, a strategist for 2008 presi- thousands of scientifically learned people."[11] In the sci-
dential candidate John Edwards, Kerry’s running mate in entific field a flip flop is generally positive as it indicates
2004. In the 2008 primary season, Edwards simply stated new learnings and breakthroughs.
that "I was wrong" when he had voted in the U.S. Senate
to authorize the Iraq War. "Progressives loved it because See also
it was taking responsibility, not abdicating it," according
• Election promise
to Prince.[7]
• Volte-face
United States commentator Jim Geraghty has written
that politicians need to be allowed some leeway in chang-
ing their minds as the result of changing conditions. "I References
actually think that a candidate can even change his po-
[1] ^ Broder, John M., "In past, clues to way Fed chief
sition in response to a changing political environment,
met mortgage crisis", The International Herald-
as long as they’re honest about it. ’The votes just aren’t
Tribune, August 19, 2007, retrieved June 23, 2008
there, public support isn’t there, so I have to put this pro-
[2] ^ Saffire, William, "Phantom of the Phrases ", "On
posal on the back burner for a while,’ is a perfectly legit-
Language" column, The New York Times Magazine,
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Flip-flop (politics)
March 13, 1988 (comment from Wicker is as quoted by [8] Geraghty, Jim, "Measuring the Flip-Flops" post at
Safire), retrieved June 23, 2008 "The Campaign Spot" blog at the "National Review
[3] No byline, "Mighty cheers for Scott / A great Online" website, June 23, 2008, 12:32 p.m. post,
meeting in Cooper Union last night.", news article, accessed same day
The New York Times, October 23, 1890, retrieved [9] Dickerson, John, "The Flip-Flop Brothers: Both
from Times subscription archives June 23, 2008 McCain and Obama wobbled. Who will pay the
(sometimes accessible without subscription) price?", Slate magazine, June 20, 2008, 6:32 p.m.
[4] Search results for "flip-flop", New York Times Eastern Time, retrieved June 23, 2008
archives, 1850-1981, retrieved June 23, 2008 [10] Pethoukoukis, James, "7 Ways McCain Can Use
[5] "Kerry discusses $87 billion comment". CNN. Energy to Beat Obama", "Capital Commerce" blog,
2004-09-30. http://www.cnn.com/2004/ U.S. News & World Report online, June 16, 2008, 01:02
ALLPOLITICS/09/30/kerry.comment/. Retrieved p.m. ET, retrieved June 23, 2008
2007-11-15. [11] Lewis D. Eigen, Flip-Flop: Political Vice–Scientific
[6] FactCheck.org: Bush Ad Twists Kerry’s Words on Virtue. Scriptamus, 2009,
Iraq http://scriptamus.wordpress.com/2009/10/23/
[7] ^ Harwood, John, "Flip-Flops Are Looking Like a flip-flop-political-vice-scientific-virtue/
Hot Summer Trend", "The Caucus" feature, The
New York Times, June 23, 2008, retrieved same day
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Flip-flop_(politics)&oldid=461767902"
Categories:
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