Carol Moseley Braun: Is this still the land of opportunity?

[gottaB]

Braun's recent strategy of going directly to the editorial board rooms seems to be paying off. USA Today gave her decent write-up (flattering photo too). Topics included health care, trade, gay marriage, Iraq, fighting terrorism, and the heart and soul of the Democratic Party.

Braun's trade stance seems like standard dlc fare with some interesting twists:

I have traditionally been a free-trader, but we have to deal with the issues of fair trade and the deep integration of markets. The components of the markets are not in sync. Everybody, for example, is salivating over the huge market in China, and the Chinese have been very gracious in saying, "Oh, we want your markets, we want to interact, we're the new capitalist." But we have a deuce of a time getting in; China's financial markets are not really open.

Nor can you expect that overnight these countries will have the kind of payrolls we have. But to say "that's fine" to firms and nations that have no human rights, no labor standards, that have child labor and environmental degradation, is the equivalent of saying, "We're going to tie one hand behind our back and let you kick us around in the shins and expect this to be fair competition." If environmental protection is a price of doing business in the United States but not in Pakistan, then small wonder baseballs made in Pakistan are cheaper.

It's complicated, but we could give the U.S. trade representative some muscle and begin to have things like greater environmental protection, a prohibition on child labor and the exploitation of working people. That would help make our goods more competitive without resorting to the kind of protectionism that always has been a slippery slope.

It's complicated--lol. For more details on Braun's position on labor and trade issues, check out her answers to the AFL-CIO questionnaire, available here.

[La_Serpiente]

1. She deserves to be an integral part of the next administration

I don't know how, but she deserves an ambassadorship to France or London.

[OhioStateProgressive]

2. Secretary of State?

i think it would be a great job for a compassionate woman

[La_Serpiente]

3. Yeah

she could bring up issues about Africa and the Middle East. She is what she says: a concensus builder, and many of our allies would be more than willing to help 3rd world countries in a more effective manner.

[OhioStateProgressive]

4. i agree most strongly

she does have a touch, and a sense of classiness when she speaks

i think diplomacy needs these ingredients

not former generals (hague and powell)