It aggrivates me to no end when the media rags on a politician (or candidate) for “flip-flopping”. That term is ridiculous and should stop being used altogether.
When a politician (or anyone really) is accused of flip-flopping, it is always in a derogatory way, implying that they are merely kowtowing to popular belief instead of standing by their own convictions and thus are not acceptable candidates.
The problem is that this absurd practice of accusing people of flip-flopping forces them to choose a side on an issue and lock into it come Hell or high water. Nevermind if new information comes to light that shows that your side is no longer correct, you must stick with it lest you be called a flip-flopper. It does not matter if new research shows that the opposite side is better, you must stick with the lesser choice or else you will be tagged as a flip-flopper. (Of course the side-effect is that if you don’t “flip-flop”, you are now endorsing the side that has been proven to be bad; damned if you do, damned if you don’t.)
Stop it! People can change their minds if they want to. Things change and a good candidate is one that can keep up and adapt as necessary. In fact most candidates run on platforms of change! Stop using that pathetic term and allow candidates to change as the world does, or else you are only doing yourself harm by tying their hands and making them afraid to adapt to new developments.