On Consistency

A major theme for opponents of Mitt Romney has been his huge change on many issues - moving from being a very moderate Republican to a very conservative one. There has been some debate recently about whether consistency really matters to voters.

Before I get to whether I think it affects voters actual decisions, I will say that it certainly affects my thinking and I think it is worth the press covering the fact that positions have changed. It matters because it gives a sense of the candidate's character. For example, President Obama recently changed his position on same sex marriage. Many people though wondered how genuine his position has been on this.

There is some evidence he favored same sex marriage while a state senator, then changed his position when he had more national ambitions. And his comments that his position is "evolving" seemed just ridiculous. So many believe that he changed his mind to support same sex marriage only when it was right politically.

John Kerry faced bad press over his changed position on the Iraq War, and maybe rightly so. He supported it before he opposed it.

Mitt Romney is also facing questions about his changed positions on gun control, abortion, gay rights, health care, auto industry bailout and more that I am probably forgetting. All of this reinforces the image of someone who will change any position if it means becoming president. If he can go from becoming a moderate to a "severe" conservative, than what does he really stand for.

So I think all of these examples say something about the character of the candidate. But it also says something about being an elected leader in a representative democracy. Voters want to elect someone who agrees with them. But they also want to elect someone who has real convictions and strong character.

Ideally, they want both. In the GOP primary, Romney won because the only candidates that were more consistent had other much bigger flaws. I think if there had been someone more consistently conservative and with good credentials, they would have chosen that person.

The question is which do they prefer when those two cannot go together? I agree with the Monkey Cage that ultimately they want someone that agrees with them now. Democrats are happy that Obama finally supports same sex marriage and Democrats were happy when Kerry changed his mind on Iraq - as Democratic and independent voters had done. And Republicans would far prefer a Romney that changed all of his positions to follow a party that is turning hard right than if Romney had stood fast to most of his moderate beliefs. (Which is why Huntsman had little chance).

The problem is that candidates often have to follow the voters. When voters change their minds, we blame the politicians for being just as fickle as the voters are. Maybe that isn't fair. Or maybe it is. Maybe it makes sense to chose someone whose judgement is sound and doesn't have to change their minds and is right from the beginning. Probably a bit naive, but a good goal, I think.