Yesterday, I documented how local Ohio Congressman Bill Johnson has changed his mind on the Trans-Pacific Partnership and yet the locals' front-page article about his views on trade said nothing about it. Today, both local "newspapers" featured a similar front-page story, "West Virginia Lawmakers Oppose Trade Deal," that explains the local WV representatives' positions on TPP.

Despite the title of the article, here is the only sentence in the 450-word article that deals with Senator Shelley Moore Capito's views:

When asked for Capito’s position on TPP, the senator’s spokeswoman Ashley Berrang said simply, “Senator Capito opposes TPP in its current form.”

That's interesting because the Charleston Gazette-Mail suggested that Capito's position was quite different at the end of last year. In assessing the Senator's position on TPP at the time, they wrote:

Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito was the only member of West Virginia’s delegation to support Trade Promotion Authority in June, easing the way forward for the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Following up on that legislation at Ballotpedia, which bills itself as "The Encyclopedia of American Politics," yields the following description of how Capito voted on the two important votes that dealt with TPP:

So it's obvious that Capito, like local Ohio representative Bill Johnson, has drastically changed her position on TPP.

I mention all of this because of the double standard that it suggests. Republicans Johnson and Capito can totally switch positions but Democrats, and in particular, Hillary Clinton cannot. Here is an Intelligencer editorial, "Clinton Flip-Flops On Issues in Ohio," from earlier this year:

During a campaign stop in Cleveland last week, Hillary Clinton said President Barack Obama’s proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact is a bad deal. She cited provisions allowing tax-free imports of automobiles.

“It’s one of the reasons I oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership,” Clinton told Ohioans with a big stake in manufacturing of both vehicles and parts for them.

Do tell, Mrs. Clinton.

While secretary of state, Clinton advocated tirelessly for the TPP. She referred to it as the “gold standard” of trade agreements.

But now, as she seeks her own term in the White House, Clinton wants the votes of American working people who may be affected adversely by the TPP.

So now, Clinton is 100 percent against the pact.

Clinton has set new standards for flip-flopping on the issues.

She has become the chameleon of the campaign trail, to the point there is no way of telling what she really believes. That gives voters no way of knowing whether she actually agrees with them – or is merely saying what they want to hear.

And that, in turn, gives voters no reason to place any trust in Clinton.

Hypocrisy? Of course not! "Flip-flopping," "chameleon," and "no reason to place any trust" don't apply to politicians like Bill Johnson and Shelley Moore Capito. No, they're Republicans!