MSNBC Debate Reaction: Obama Will Always Stay the Same

Barack Obama has started off the MSNBC debate (watch online) with a dig at Hillary Clinton, asserting that politicians should always stay consistent, not changing their policy preferences with the times. While I can understand that some basic principles might remain persistent, why shouldn’t politicians maintain the right to change their minds, as long as they explain why they’ve changed their minds? Is Barack Obama suggesting that politicians shouldn’t grow in their thinking or question themselves? And on a more pragmatic level apart from principle, when circumstances change mightn’t substantive policy needs change too? There are circumstances in which consistency is important, but I think a fixation on consistency is overrated.