LA Times: Obama's stance on NAFTA is disingenuous, Clinton indicates

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-campaign4mar04,0,2703233.story

She says her Democratic rival gave the Canadians 'the old wink-wink' by secretly telling them not to be offended by his criticisms of the trade pact.

By Johanna Neuman and Louise Roug, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
12:13 PM PST, March 3, 2008

Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, embarking on a campaign marathon that will last into the wee hours, stepped up attacks today on rival Sen. Barack Obama as they headed toward Tuesday's crucial primaries in Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont.


Carolyn Kaster / Associated Press
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said that, despite a string of 11 consecutive victories by Sen. Barack Obama, she plans to stay in the race at least until the April 22 primary in Pennsylvania.


Saying she is "just getting warmed up," Clinton contended that Obama had given the Canadians "the old wink-wink," by secretly telling them not to take offense at his need to disparage NAFTA while campaigning in job-strapped Ohio.

During a debate last week, both candidates pledged to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement to add protections for U.S. workers and for the environment. But Clinton's campaign cited a memo about a meeting between a senior Obama economic advisor, Austan Goolsbee, and consulate officials in Chicago reassuring the Canadians not to take Obama's message "out of context" and to view it "as more about political positioning than a clear articulation of policy plans."

The memo was written by a Canadian official. Goolsbee, a University of Chicago economist, has disputed its accuracy, as has the Obama campaign. The Canadian Embassy added its voice to the dispute today, saying that in the report out of its consulate in Chicago "there was no intention to convey, in any way, that Sen. 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."

But earlier in the day Clinton sought to exploit the issue.

"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 the old wink-wink, don't pay any attention, this is just political rhetoric," she told media members aboard her campaign plane. "I think it raises serious questions about what you expect them to believe about your position."

FULL story at link.

[TexasObserver]

1. Clintons are NAFTA. This as bad as Bush swiftboating Kerry, the war hero.

They're disgusting. The sooner our party turns them out, the sooner we get our majorities back.

[Liberal Veteran]

2. Says the woman who PRAISED NAFTA as a benefit to America.

I'm really starting to despise the Clintons.