flip-flops for the summer

Flip-flopping is extremely dangerous in American politics.  

Both candidates have recently come under attack for changing their positions to suit  the expectations of the voters they were courting. 

For instance the  online version of the right wing publication The   National Review lists the examples of policy shifts by Barack Obama : on free trade ( he attacked NAFTA during the primary to ingratiate himself with the Democratic mid-western voters but is now distancing himself from his earlier comments to please the independents); on campaign finance; gun control; Reverend Wright, etc... 

Meanwhile the socially and economically liberal The Economist, strongly criticizes John McCain for his "lurch to the right" and for relinquishing his former moderate and independent pleasing opinions. McCain is now less staunchly opposingthe use of torture, the existence of the Guatanamo Bay detention center. He has also forsaken his moderate approach to immigration policy, his initial oppisition to the Bush tax-cuts... The Economist suggests that this is a wrong-headed strategy which will play in Barack Obama's hands. "American elections classically involve a two-step: the candidate runs to the extreme in the primary , then back to the center for the general. Mr Obama is doing that. Mr McCain seems to be doing precisely the opposite. It is a mistake". 

Moreover, it is counter-intuitive: if McCain managed to win the Republican primary without the more conservative section of the party's base, why wouldn't he stick to his moderate policy in the general election, when the conservative voters represent a smaller proportion of the electorate. I think that it comes down to this: Obama's appeal to the independents is very threatening to McCain's centrist strategy and makes the 30M strong evangelical voting block more desirable than ever. 

McCain is undoubtedly trying to rally the conservative and religious base of the GOP. The choice of the VP, will give us a clear signal of the McCain strategy. For instance, if McCain wants to rally the evangelical conservatives, Bobby Jindal from Louisianna might be a good pick and would undoubtedly signal that McCain is not tring to conquer the political center. 

The issue is : how detrimental will these flip-flops be to the candidates? Are some policy shifts worse than others, which ones will be used in the ad-war which is likely to be waged before the election. McCain has already seized on Obama's change of heart on campaign finance : 

To celebrate July 4th with the Americans you can organize a celebratory barbecue ( the traditional American occupation on this day) or listen to the Declaration of Independence read by the NPR journalists.