By a nearly two-to-one margin, Republican voters believe free trade is bad for the U.S. economy

[Flabbergasted]

(Quick question. From Article: "While 60% of respondents said they want the next president and Congress to continue cutting taxes" Who here has seen their taxes reduced over the last 7 years?)



http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB119144942897748150-8r3rp2iBHlVlYeV4fB_56VVpKYw_20071103.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top

Republicans Grow Skeptical On Free Trade
By JOHN HARWOOD
October 4, 2007; Page A1

WASHINGTON -- By a nearly two-to-one margin, Republican voters believe free trade is bad for the U.S. economy, a shift in opinion that mirrors Democratic views and suggests trade deals could face high hurdles under a new president.

The sign of broadening resistance to globalization came in a new Wall Street Journal-NBC News Poll that showed a fraying of Republican Party orthodoxy on the economy. While 60% of respondents said they want the next president and Congress to continue cutting taxes, 32% said it's time for some tax increases on the wealthiest Americans to reduce the budget deficit and pay for health care.

Six in 10 Republicans in the poll agreed with a statement that free trade has been bad for the U.S. and said they would agree with a Republican candidate who favored tougher regulations to limit foreign imports. That represents a challenge for Republican candidates who generally echo Mr. Bush's calls for continued trade expansion, and reflects a substantial shift in sentiment from eight years ago.

"It's a lot harder to sell the free-trade message to Republicans," said Republican pollster Neil Newhouse, who conducts the Journal/NBC poll with Democratic counterpart Peter Hart. The poll comes ahead of the Oct. 9 Republican presidential debate in Michigan sponsored by the Journal and the CNBC and MSNBC television networks.

The leading Republican candidates are still trying to promote free trade. "Our philosophy has to be not how many protectionist measures can we put in place, but how do we invent new things to sell" abroad, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said in a recent interview. "That's the view of the future. What are trying to do is lock in the inadequacies of the past."

Such a stance is sure to face a challenge in the 2008 general election. Though President Bill Clinton famously steered the Democratic Party toward a less-protectionist bent and promoted the North American Free Trade Agreement, his wife and the current Democratic front-runner, Hillary Rodham Clinton, has adopted more skeptical rhetoric. Mrs. Clinton has come out against a U.S. trade deal with South Korea.

[Romulox]

1. Wow, are the Republicans going to become the party of the American Worker by default?

I completely reject your characterization of Hillary Clinton as a free-trade "skeptic". On the important issues: NAFTA and MFN for China, she is apparently to the right of most Republicans...:mad:

[Flabbergasted]

2. It's a rediculous statment but Murdoch supports her presidency.

[Vincardog]

3. I pay a lot less taxes. The bush economy has had me out of work for years.