CTV News: Obama staffer gave warning of NAFTA rhetoric

[rodeodance]

Forum Name General Discussion: Primaries
Topic subject CTV News: Obama staffer gave warning of NAFTA rhetoric
Topic URL http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4805060#4805060
4805060, CTV News: Obama staffer gave warning of NAFTA rhetoric
Posted by MetricSystem on Wed Feb-27-08 10:35 PM

***The (Obama) staff member reassured Wilson that the criticisms would only be campaign rhetoric, and should not be taken at face value.***


My sister in Toronto called me tonight and told me that this was one of the top stories on CTV National News tonight in Canada. Here's the article I found on CTV.ca:


Obama staffer gave warning of NAFTA rhetoric

Updated Wed. Feb. 27 2008 10:26 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have ratcheted up their attacks on NAFTA, but senior members of their campaign teams have told Canadian officials not to take the criticisms seriously, CTV News has learned.

The Democratic rivals have been critical of the long-standing North American Free Trade Agreement over the course of the Democratic primaries, saying that the deal has cost U.S. workers' jobs.

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.

The staff member reassured Wilson that the criticisms would only be campaign rhetoric, and should not be taken at face value.

But Tuesday night in Ohio, where NAFTA is blamed for massive job losses, Obama said he would tell Canada and Mexico "that we will opt out unless we renegotiate the core labour and environmental standards."

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.

"Senator Obama does not make promises he doesn't intend to keep," the spokesperson said.

Low-level sources also suggested the Clinton campaign may have given a similar warning to Ottawa, but a Clinton spokesperson flatly denied the claim.

More at link: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080227/dems_nafta_080227/20080227?hub=TopStories

My sister said the story centered around the Obama campaign more than the Clinton campaign. During the broadcast report, the reporter stated that the Clinton camp has not only denied to CTV News that any conversation with Canadian officials took place but that blanket immunity has been given so the source with their camp could be revealed, if there is one. So far, no source.

Edit: I removed BREAKING in the title because some Obama supporters were focusing all their attention on that rather than the actual issue. One of them even created a thread making fun of me over it! Cool.

[leftofcool]

1. My Canadian business partner

said this one really made her sit up and take notice. While she had not been leaning toward one side or the other, she is now definitely hopes Hillary wins the nomination. She also contends that NAFTA is the scapegoat. The real problem is not NAFTA or the hiring from abroad, it is the outsourcing of jobs by American companies. NAFTA is convenient for Obama.

Left of Cool

[libbygurl]

2. Interesting, isn't it? The hypocrisy (once again) of it all! What a FAKE he is!

I can't wait when (and IF) the Rezko scandal breaks into the general (non-Chicago) media!

[elixir]

3. Great post, RD. Thanks for keeping our heartbeat going.