Blowin' with the winds

In fairness to this Politico article, even though it misses the worst of them, it does, by the end, actually list several of McCain failings (or what, in the world of political journalism, reporters refer to as "weak spots" where his opponents can "hit" him). And this is classic:

Doug Schoen, a former adviser to President Clinton, says the Democrats must act quickly. "The trick is to get him on the flip-flops and not let him get back to the center where he can be a real force," he said.

The appeal of a flip-flop assault is that it could undermine McCain's reputation for taking tough stands and sticking with them no matter how the political wind blows.

So we're in agreement: McCain used to be a moderate and he's now a conservative. But the key is to not let him get back to the center, because then he'd be invulnerable to accusations of flip-flopping? Shouldn't he be more vulnerable to those charges if he keeps zig zagging between the center and the right?

If the charge is flip-flopping, then he's already done it, Democrats should hit him with it right away, and then maybe, just maybe, reporters will stop talking about his famous "reputation for taking tough stands" without stopping to look closely at the facts. And if he goes heterodox again it only strengthens the charge.