I never thought we'd get to use this again when Mitt Romney dropped out of the 2016 presidential race:
Turns out we can, as long as we solve the problem of which 2016 candidate deserves it more. Rand Paul and Scott Walker are in a tight competition for the Romney Prize for Bizarre Position Changing. I doubt either can match Romney's ability to change positions on consecutive days, but they're making a valiant effort.
To start with Paul, he was asked to explain some position changes in an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News, and Paul really thought this was a valid reason for saying something different in the past than he's saying now: "I also wasn't campaigning for myself, I was campaigning to help my father at the time." Later on a similar question, "Once again, before I was involved in politics for myself." I guess somehow that makes sense to Paul. Hannity let it slide.
That interview was obscured by the controversy over his interview on NBC's The Today Show, where he was a jerk towards interviewer Savannah Guthrie. He's been similarly boorish towards other female interviewers, but Paul excused himself on the grounds that he acts like that to male interviewers too. Um, I hate to you Mr. Sort-of-Doctor Sen Paul, but that's not better. "Complete jerk" is different than "patronizing chauvinist", but not actually better.
Scott Walker has been making flip-flops that seem like the old-fashioned practice of changing your politics to please the audience in front of you, which worked more often before the internet. Hat tip to Laura Clawson, who picked up on this Politico article from JR Ross of WisPolitics.com. Ross showed Walker switching positions on sales taxes, immigration, abortion access, and he suddenly sounded friendly to ethanol subsidies in Iowa in contradiction to his prior opposition. He likewise changed positions on the need for stronger gun laws, being fine with them when representing a suburban district in the state legislature, but now that he want the votes of the gun nuts in the GOP base, not so much.
If you don't like Walker's position on something, just wait until you're in the audience, and he'll change it.
So which gets the Mittster? I decided "Romney Prize for Bizarre Position Changing" is a bit long to write over and over again.
Twitter users, remember the hashtag #ThisGuyWantsToBePresident
cross-posted at MN Progressive Project