Should Felons Be Allowed to Vote?

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Over at The Corner, Roger Clegg writes:

The Supreme Court has asked the Obama administration for its views on whether to grant review in a case that challenges felon disenfranchisement as a violation of the Voting Rights Act. It will be interesting to see what the solicitor general does. The Left does not like it when felons are not allowed to vote, but the Justice Department in years past has defended these laws, and a partisan volte-face will, or at least should be, embarrassing.

Help me out here. Why should it be embarrassing for the Obama administration to take a different position than previous administrations? Don’t presidential administrations do that all the time?