McCain was for it before he was against it

Even if he was the one who sponsored the bills.

Steve Benen of The Carpetbagger Report:

That’s obviously quite a bit of evasion for Mr. “Straight Talk,” but it got me thinking: how many McCain-sponsored bills is McCain prepared to vote against?

Let’s see…

* He said this week that he’d vote against his own immigration plan.

* McCain used to champion the Law of the Sea convention, even volunteering to testify on the treaty’s behalf before a Senate committee. Now, if the treaty comes to the Senate floor, he’s vowed to vote against it.

* McCain was a co-sponsor of the DREAM Act, which would grant legal status to illegal immigrants’ kids who graduate from high school. In 2007, to make the far-right base happy, he voted against the bill he had taken the lead on.

* In 2006, McCain sponsored legislation to require grassroots lobbying coalitions to reveal their financial donors. In 2007, after receiving “feedback” on the proposal, McCain told far-right activist groups that he now opposes the measure he’d backed.

* McCain used to support major campaign-finance reform measures that bore his name. In June 2007 2006, McCain announced his opposition to a major McCain-Feingold provision.

It’s one thing to shift with the political winds, and I’ll gladly concede that there are worse qualities in a presidential candidate than changing one’s mind about a policy matter or two. Indeed, McCain has been in Congress for a quarter-century; he’s bound to shift now and then on various issues.

But these aren’t just random bills that McCain voted on — these are bills that he personally championed — recently. And now, after McCain sponsored the bills, he’s not even willing to vote for them anymore.

So... will they pass out flip flops at the convention? Will the media address this blatant reinvention of his core beliefs? Will they even notice?

Or will they talk about lapel pins?