NAFTA Story Slaps Back— [at Obama Camp]

[rodeodance]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/realclearpolitics/20080303/cm_rcp/nafta_story_slaps_back;_ylt=Asz69LHRFRHYK1zGAceMx_es0NUE

NAFTA Story Slaps Back—at Obama Camp

Tom Bevan Mon Mar 3, 10:37 AM ET

It's never good when a story that you've slapped down as false gets up and slaps you back - as the NAFTA story has just done to the Obama campaign. The AP reports of a memo surfacing that appears to support the original version of the story that an Obama advisor told Canadian government officials that Obama's railing against NAFTA was more or less just campaign rhetoric.
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The Obama campaign is obviously decrying the news, saying that the memo was an inaccurate interpretation of their advisor's remarks, but Hillary Clinton jumped on the news, releasing this statement:

I think that after days of denial, the Obama campaign was confronted with a memo of a meeting - it was my understanding - in which there was a discussion of NAFTA. And it raises questions about Senator Obama coming to Ohio and giving speeches about NAFTA and having his chief economic advisor tell the Canadian government that it was just political rhetoric.

I don't think people should come to Ohio and tell the people of Ohio one thing and then have your campaign tell a foreign government something else behind closed doors. That's the kind of difference between talk and action and that I've been pointing out in this campaign. I think the questions should be directed at Senator Obama.

I don't think people should come to Ohio and you both give speeches that are very critical of NAFTA and you send out misleading and false information about my positions regarding NAFTA and then we find out that your chief economic advisor has gone to a foreign government and basically done

[rinsd]

1. Is the memo available anywhere yet?

[Lucinda]

2. Some of the contents are quoted here:

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080303/democrats_nafta.html?.v=1

[rinsd]

8. Thank you

:hi:

[gateley]

3. I thought I initially heard that both campaigns

had contacted whoever it is in Canada and said "it's part of the play".

Am I incorrect in thinking that?

And, it was also my impression that it was just a reassurance from both campaigns that neither had the intention of cutting off Canada should s/he become the Prez.

Again, am I just imagining I read that somewhere? (overload)

[AtomicKitten]

4. This is just a distraction because Hillary was exposed in the last debate as having lied about NAFTA

[Hieronymus]

27. MSNBC just covered it, including footage of the Canadian parliament ..

strongly stating that the story is untrue .

[JKaiser]

5. I can't believe the Obama campaign!

[ProSense]

6. "AP"? That's not AP, you added that to the title. That's Tom Bevan's opinion

Obama's position on NAFTA isn't a secret. He opposed the Clintons' horrible NAFTA bill, but he isn't opposed to free trade. He also made his position clear during the last debate:

RUSSERT: Senator Obama, you did, in 2004, talk to farmers and suggest that NAFTA had been helpful. The Associated Press today ran a story about NAFTA saying that you have been consistently ambivalent towards the issue.

A simple question. Will you as president say to Canada and Mexico, this has not worked for us, we are out?

OBAMA: I will make sure that we renegotiate in the same way that Senator Clinton talked about, and I think actually Senator Clinton's answer on this one is right. I think we should use the hammer of a potential opt-out as leverage to ensure that we actually get labor and environmental standards that are enforced.

And that is not what has been happening so far. That is something that I have been consistent about.

I have to say, Tim, with respect to my position on this, you know, when I ran for the United States Senate, the "Chicago Tribune," which was adamantly pro-NAFTA noted that in their endorsement of me, they were endorsing me despite my strong opposition to NAFTA. And that conversation that I had with the Farm Bureau, I was not ambivalent at all.

What I said was that NAFTA and other trade deals can be beneficial to the United States, because I believe every U.S. worker is as productive as any worker around the world. And we can compete with anybody.

And we can't shy away from globalization. We can't draw a moat around us. But what I did say in that same quote, if you look at it, was that the problem is we've been negotiating just looking at corporate profits and what's good for multinationals, and we haven't been looking at what's good for communities here in Ohio, in my home state of Illinois, and across the country. And as president, what I want to be is an advocate on behalf of workers.

Look, you know, when I go to these plants, I meet people who are proud of their jobs. They are proud of the products that they have created. They have built brands and profits for their companies. And when they see jobs shipped overseas and suddenly they're left not just without a job, but without health care, without a pension, and are having to look for seven-buck-an-hour jobs at the local fast-food joint, that is devastating on them, but it's also devastating on the community.

That's not the way that we're going to prosper as we move forward.

link

Edited to add: nothing will give this failed RW distortion any credibility.

[rinsd]

11. It should have been noted as RCP instead of AP . Here is the AP article

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080303/democrats_nafta.html?.v=1

[ProSense]

13. Well, here is the Canadian embassy issuing an apology:

Canadians regret...

There's lots of grist for Canadian political reporters right now, as the Canadian Embassy issues an apology and a sort of recantation -- though not really a denial -- of the Goolsbee story. This happens even as their superiors in Ottawa seem determined to cause trouble in the Democratic primary.

The Canadian Embassy and our Consulates General regularly contact those involved in all of the Presidential campaigns and, periodically, report on these contacts to interested officials. In the recent report produced by the Consulate General in Chicago, there was no intention to convey, in any way, that Senator Obama and his campaign team were taking a different position in public from views expressed in private, including about NAFTA. We deeply regret any inference that may have been drawn to that effect.

The people of the United States are in the process of choosing a new President and are fortunate to have strong and impressive candidates from both political parties. Canada will not interfere in this electoral process. We look forward, however, to working with the choice of the American people in further building an unparalleled relationship with a close friend and partner.

So they're not disputing the text of the memo, just what it's words intended to convey. Perhaps it's the language barrier, but I'm not sure there's a clear alternative reading.

Anyway, the dread specter of Canadian interference has now been raised.

A side story, as Noam Scheiber writes: "What's shocking is that a foreign government would leak it to the press. That seems like a pretty egregious breach of protocol--more like a dirty trick by an operative in a conservative government than anything else. I can't imagine it'll bode well for U.S.-Canadian relations if Obama makes it to the White House ...."

What does it say that Hillary's campaign is pushing this bogus RW distortion?

[rinsd]

18. I don't blame the Canadians.

They do not wish to be used a some kind of NATFA loving political football.

[ProSense]

20. Canadian embassy apologized. The story is BS. Hillary is desperate. n/t

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

22. ROFLMAO!!!!!!! You're Too Much!!!

They apologized. Nothin to see here folks!!! Talk about naive!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[zabet]

36. .

:toast:

[rodeodance]

31. too bad--But this story DOES have legs

[ContinentalOp]

24. The Canadians don't want to change NAFTA.

They will definitely let themselves be a political football on this NAFTA issue if it means hurting the candidate who has spoken out against it.

[ContinentalOp]

7. "The AP reports of a memo surfacing that appears to support the original version of the story"

That is inaccurate. The original CTV story was almost 100% false. The only thing they got right was that somebody connected to the Obama campaign spoke to Canadian officials and Nafta was discussed.

2-27-08 The original story:
"Within the last month, a top staff member for Obama's campaign telephoned Michael Wilson, Canada's ambassador to the United States, and warned him that Obama would speak out against NAFTA, according to Canadian sources...
Late Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Obama campaign said the staff member's warning to Wilson sounded implausible, but did not deny that contact had been made."

2-29-08 Goolsbee Denies Canadian NAFTA Story:
"It is a totally inaccurate story,” he said. “I did not call these people and I direct you to the press office."


2-29-08 New CTV Story:
"Despite repeated requests, Barack Obama's campaign is still neither verifying nor denying a CTV report that a senior member of the team made contact with the Canadian government -- via the Chicago consulate general -- regarding comments Obama made about NAFTA."

The actual text of the memo:
"He cautioned that this messaging should not be taken out of context and should be viewed as more about political positioning than a clear articulation of policy plans."
"Goolsbee disputed the characterization from the conservative government official.

"This thing about 'it's more about political positioning than a clear articulation of policy plans,' that's this guy's language," Goolsbee said of DeMora. "He's not quoting me.

"I certainly did not use that phrase in any way," he said."

"On NAFTA, Goolsbee suggested that Obama is less about fundamentally changing the agreement and more in favour of strengthening/clarifying language on labour mobility and environment and trying to establish these as more `core' principles of the agreement."
"Goolsbee said that sentence is true and consistent with Obama's position. But he said other portions of the memo were inaccurate."

CTV changed their story to make it look like they caught Goolsbee in a lie. And they have repeatedly paraphrased what are fairly innocuous statements to make them appear more inflammatory.

[nlb]

9. silly season indeed !!

how can educated people be swayed by this kind of stupidity ?
if NAFTA has to be an issue,then it must hurt the Clintons ,not the other way around .Bill signed it , Hillary defended it times and times again .

[ContinentalOp]

10. It's interesting to trace the evolution of this smear.

The first article claimed that the Obama staffer "reassured Wilson that the criticisms would only be campaign rhetoric, and should not be taken at face value."

The next CTV article claimed that he said "the Canadian government shouldn't worry. The operative said it was just campaign rhetoric not to be taken seriously."

The actual memo claims that "He cautioned that this messaging should not be taken out of context and should be viewed as more about political positioning than a clear articulation of policy plans." Goolsbee says that this quote is inaccurate. But even if it were true, there's an obvious difference between saying "don't take our messaging out of context" and saying "don't take our campaign at face value."

He admits to having said that "Obama is less about fundamentally changing the agreement and more in favour of strengthening/clarifying language on labour mobility and environment and trying to establish these as more `core' principles of the agreement."

But that's not as inflammatory as "don't take our campaign rhetoric at face value" is it? Got to love those made up quotes. It's nothing but a paraphrase of a paraphrase of a statement made by someone connected to the Obama campaign.

[rinsd]

12. "should be viewed as more about political positioning than a clear articulation of policy plans."

"But even if it were true, there's an obvious difference between saying "don't take our messaging out of context" and saying "don't take our campaign at face value."

Actually if the quote is accurate it would be the later not the former.

[ContinentalOp]

23. Here's an example.

Take this quote from Obama on NAFTA:
"One million jobs have been lost because of NAFTA, including nearly 50,000 jobs here in Ohio. And yet, 10 years after NAFTA passed, Sen. Clinton said it was good for America. Well, I don't think NAFTA has been good for America -- and I never have."

So does that mean that Obama is a crazy protectionist who is going to close the border to Canada? Does it mean that he thinks we should immediately withdraw from NAFTA on day one of his presidency? No, Obama has frequently said that we need to revisit NAFTA and work on renegotiating it in a way that is more fair to American workers.

In fact, it says that right in the supposed smoking gun memo: "Obama is less about fundamentally changing the agreement and more in favour of strengthening/clarifying language on labour mobility and environment and trying to establish these as more `core' principles of the agreement."

So, when Obama says "I don't think NAFTA has been good for America" you can't take that out of context and assume he wants to withdraw from NAFTA. You CAN take it at face value because indeed, he does believe that NAFTA has hurt American workers.

[xchrom]

14. recommend

[LibertyorDeath]

15. It's Horseshit

as is a "a memo surfacing that appears to support"

Complete fucking Crap.



News from the Embassy of Canada

Statement by the Canadian Embassy

Washington, D.C., March 3, 2008 — The Canadian Embassy and our Consulates General regularly contact those involved in all of the Presidential campaigns and, periodically, report on these contacts to interested officials. In the recent report produced by the Consulate General in Chicago, there was no intention to convey, in any way, that Senator Obama and his campaign team were taking a different position in public from views expressed in private, including about NAFTA. We deeply regret any inference that may have been drawn to that effect.

http://geo.international.gc.ca/can-am/washington/menu-en.asp?lang_update=1

[GoldieAZ49]

30. I thought so too. last week

but this story will die, and is hitting the MSM today, just in time for the voters to hear about it.

sucks huh?

[SeaLyons]

16. Recommend

[elixir]

17. Well done. This might be a problem for Obama.

[ContinentalOp]

25. Yes, the statement that:

"On NAFTA, Goolsbee suggested that Obama is less about fundamentally changing the agreement and more in favour of strengthening/clarifying language on labour mobility and environment and trying to establish these as more `core' principles of the agreement."

is going to be a real problem for Obama. :eyes:

[Marie26]

28. It is when they tried to say it didn't happen. nt

[LadyVT]

19. You go, girl. It's on the associated press wire now.

[rodeodance]

37. Good. glad to see the press finally doing their job

[bellasgrams]

21. The following is the paragraph that I liked. Showing BO's

habit of using Hillary's ideas and usually rewording her statements.

OBAMA: I will make sure that we renegotiate in the same way that Senator Clinton talked about, and I think actually Senator Clinton's answer on this one is right. I think we should use the hammer of a potential opt-out as leverage to ensure that we actually get labor and environmental standards that are enforced.

Oh yes, very original.

[Straight Shooter]

26. BO's habit of using Hillary's ideas ....

Betcha he would have voted for the IWR, because Hillary and Kerry voted for it.

Remember his "joke" about using Hillary as an advisor if he becomes POTUS? I don't think he was joking. I believe he actually respects her judgment more than he trusts his own.

[rodeodance]

32. SNL did that skit of BO at the debates: "i agree with Hillary"---it was a HOOT

[GoldieAZ49]

29. That was the nail in the coffin for me

Vote Obama - no can do

I wonder how many will faint as Obama gets vetted?

[cottonseed]

33. After tomorrow, we'll all breath a little easier.

The party elders will talk some sense into Hillary after tomorrow. Richardson call for her to drop out, makes it an inevitability. With all this last minute poo slinging, it's really beginning to stink around here. Wednesday morning's announcement from the Hillary camp, can't come soon enough.

[libbygurl]

34. Stopping by briefly to...

...:kick: and rec!

[rodeodance]

35. :-)