The N&R’s new Washington Watch notes that both Sen. Kay Hagan and Sen. Richard Burr have flip-flopped on the federal bailout.

But this passage jumped out at me:

It did not escape critics at the time that Hagan voiced her opposition only to have Republican Elizabeth Dole, the incumbent she defeated, cast a vote against the bill. And many of those same critics noted Hagan’s change in position.

Anyone else see it? The passage implies that Hagan voiced her opposition before Dole voted against it, when it was established just last week that Hagan “avoided taking a position in October until after the Senate had passed the bill.”

Regarding Burr’s flip-flop, Roch Smith Jr. noted over at Guarino’s that other Republicans had flip-flopped on the bailout. Duly noted, as is the fact that Heath Shuler the Democratic congressman who might challenge Burr in 2010, consistently voted no on the bailout bill.

I realize the bailout is a complicated matter that taxes the thought processes of our legislators. I don’t hold it against Hagan that she changed her stance so much as I disagree with the view that her position is somehow ‘smart, ‘gutsy,’ and ‘refreshing.’ It’s just plain politics.