Changing positions, McCain-style

Consistency: the hobgoblin of little minds and GOP presidential candidates. John McCain made this hilarious claim during last night's debate in South Carolina:

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McCain, responding to criticism from Romney on immigration, launched a thinly veiled retort about Romney's penchant for changing his positions when he was running for senator and governor in Massachusetts.

"I haven't changed my position on even-numbered years or have changed because of the different offices that I may be running for," McCain said.

Is that your final answer, Senator? Think back to your White House run in 2000:

Neither party should be defined by pandering to the outer reaches of American politics and the agents of intolerance, whether they be Louis Farrakhan or Al Sharpton on the left, or Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell on the right.

And now skip ahead a scant six years:

RUSSERT: Do you believe that Jerry Falwell is still an agent of intolerance?

MCCAIN: No, I don’t. I think that Jerry Falwell can explain to you his views on this program when you have him on.

Technically speaking, though, McCain is right. Unlike Romney, McCain changes his position when running for the same office. Quite the difference.