2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumHillary's opposition to the TPP is a win-win for labor leaders and for Hillary
Hillary's campaign isn't worrying about losing to Bernie Sanders. But they have reason to be concerned about a long, drawn-out primary season. They want to finish things as quickly as possible so that Hillary can take the fight to the Republicans. The support of organized labor would certainly help her in that goal.
The TPP is pretty much a done deal. The vote earlier this year to give Trade Promotion Authority to President Obama demonstrated that there is bipartisan support for free trade in both chambers of Congress. Bernie Sanders can yell and wave his arms all her wants. The vote will likely occur sometime early next year, most likely in February.
So Hillary is free to come out in opposition to the TPP, knowing full well that it will already be the law of the land well before she becomes President. There will be no promises to break once she become President (unlike President Obama and his promise to renegotiate NAFTA).
Most labor unions are going to endorse Hillary. The only question is timing. Some labor union leaders have been facing push-back from their membership regarding the endorsement of a candidate who does not oppose the TPP. The labor leaders know enough about how the legislative game is played to know that the TPP is going to happen. But they have to put up a fight, no matter how futile, to show their membership that they are looking out for the interests of the rand and file.
So now labor unions are free to endorse Hillary, and will have a friend in the White House. And Hillary will get their support earlier, enabling her to secure the nomination earlier.
Blus4u
(608 posts)an a lose lose for the American public.
Peace
upaloopa
(11,417 posts)That is why the MSM tries so hard to derail her campaign.
If Hillary wins the nomination early while the repub clown car is still running around sounding like a bunch of crazies it will really boost her campaign.
Bernie will never get more than around 25% support so he really isn't even in the mix as far as the MSM is concerned. They occasionally say Hillary is afraid of Bernie to make the primary more of a horse race but they know as well as we do that the contest is between Hillary and who ever is driving the clown car.
DanTex
(20,709 posts)and to do it sooner.
kenfrequed
(7,865 posts)What would have been a win would be if she had gathered all those people that were endorsing her and rallied them to move and vote against the TPP.
Merely providing some kind of bullshit cover so that some of the leadership of the labor movement could throw support to a committed Third Way democrat is NOT a win for labor.
It is also not a win when a politician that is feigning opposition to a trade pact that she was responsible for writing gets any union support. Particularly when she will almost automatically shift back to being in favor of future trade agreements very similiar to this one.
Suggesting otherwise is being a bit disingenuous.