American voters need to understand that the whole NAFTA gate thing was a consolidated effort between Clinton, Republicans, and the Canadian Government to derail Barack Obamas Campaign. This kind of "All or Nothing" behavior from the Clintons is going to polarize and destroy the Democratic Party. These self-inflicting wounds by the Dems will make McCain the our next president.
It turns out not only did the canadian government misrepresent the obama campaign, it was the clinton campaign that reached out to the canadian government telling them that this was rhetoric. Ironic, since she immediately condemned him and took advantage of it for the ohio primary. i don't think this story is getting a lot of coverage. . . when i looked this morning, you had to search for it, and it's buried in the article. i personally think an article like this should be on the top 10 list, and I think we can probably get it there. . . if you think hillary's hypocrisy on this deserves more attention.
U.S. / POLITICS | March 7, 2008
Trade Pact Controversy in Democratic Race Reaches Into Canadian Parliament
By IAN AUSTEN
Did the Canadian government commit the ultimate sin of interfering in an election of a foreign ally? The political storm surrounding Nafta makes its way into Canada???s Parliament.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/07/us/politics/07nafta.html?ex=1205557200&en=e40a54dfee861690&ei=5070&emc=eta1
The Facts About Nafta-Gate
What the Obama camp said to Canada, and the voters.
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Summary
Clinton's spokesman says a newly surfaced memo proves that Obama's campaign issued false denials about sending a private message to Canadian officials to disregard his criticisms of NAFTA. The Obama camp says it's all a misunderstanding, and the Canadian embassy in Washington says it regrets the whole thing.
Is this "NAFTA-gate" as the Clinton campaign would like Ohio voters to believe when they vote in the March 4 primary? Or is it, as the Obama camp describes it, just a botched description by a low-level official in Canada's Chicago office of a meeting with a senior Obama adviser?
It's now clear that a Canadian news report that started this flap wasn't accurate. No evidence has surfaced to show that any Obama "staffer" telephoned the Canadian ambassador in Washington, and all concerned deny that any such conversation took place. But it is equally clear that Obama's senior economic adviser did visit Canada's consulate in Chicago on Feb. 8, and that NAFTA was one of the several topics discussed.
Exactly what was said is not so clear, however. The memo says Obama's anti-NAFTA stance was described as just "political maneuvering," but the adviser says he said no such thing. The campaign says the adviser wasn't authorized to convey any message from the candidate anyway. No audio recording or verbatim transcript of the disputed conversation is available, and there's no reason to expect that any exist. So the best we can do is to provide readers with the essential details as they have unfolded over the past several days, with links to original sources when available. On this one, you'll have to be the judge.
Analysis
Here is a day-by-day account of the dispute about the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have for weeks been twisting each others words, each portraying the other as favoring free trade while criticizing the trade deal in Ohio where it is unpopular. Each have nearly identical public positions, however.
Tuesday, Feb. 26: Debating in Cleveland, Ohio, both Clinton and Obama take identical stands on NAFTA. Both agree when pressed by NBC's Tim Russert that they would threaten to pull the U.S. out of NAFTA unless Canada and Mexico agree to new terms:
Moderator Tim Russert: Will you, as president, say we are out of NAFTA in six months?
Clinton: I have said that I will renegotiate NAFTA, so obviously, you'd have to say to Canada and Mexico that that's exactly what we're going to do. . . . Yes, I am serious. . . . I will say we will opt out of NAFTA unless we renegotiate it, and we renegotiate on terms that are favorable to all of America. . . .
Q: Senator Obama . . . 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.
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