Obama Camp Attacks Clinton Over 1993 Nafta Meeting
The Obama campaign is seizing on the evidence in the Clinton White House schedules that show she attended at least one meeting about Nafta.
“This is one of the most critical issues facing Americans workers,” said Roger Tauss, international vice president of the Transportation Workers Union, in a conference call just now. “Nothing played a bigger role in this than Nafta.”
He went on, “Senator Clinton likes to say on the campaign trail that she has always been a critic of Nafta. “Her White House schedules … show she played a major role in this bill.”
Transportation workers, Tauss said, “can take tough love if you don’t agree with us” but he added that his priority is to have a president who will “be straight with the American people.”
Obama campaign spokesman Robert Gibbs drew attention to one particular meeting, on Nov. 10, 1993—“just one week before Nafta passed,” he noted. He said that attendees at the closed-door meeting, who were reportedly international businesswomen, said it was “organized around” Clinton, and that she sought to enlist their “help in ensuring the passage of Nafta.”
Gibbs went on to say that people have been wondering “what was lurking in the White House schedules.”
“One thing she was hiding was the truth,” he said.
It became clear as the call went on that the campaign is only partially interested in criticizing Clinton’s actual position on Nafta, then or now. They are more intent on drawing attention to her alleged dishonesty—that “Clinton is willing to do absolutely anything to get elected," as spokesman Bill Burton has said more than once in the last few days.
In a campaign memo sent out earlier today, the Clinton campaign had this to say about the schedules and her position on Nafta:
Myth: Contrary to her stated opposition to NAFTA, Hillary Clinton attended NAFTA meetings to work for its passage.
Fact: It is no secret that passing NAFTA was a priority of the Clinton Administration, but numerous contemporary accounts make clear that Hillary Clinton was personally opposed to NAFTA, and her position on NAFTA was and remains consistent.
For example, one of the NAFTA meetings she attended was run by David Gergen who has clearly stated that Hillary Clinton was opposed to NAFTA. According to Gergen, Hillary “was extremely unenthusiastic about NAFTA. And I think that's putting it mildly.” He said: “If I could just add one other post script, Anderson, on NAFTA, I was actually there in the Clinton White House during the NAFTA fight and I must tell you Hillary Clinton was extremely unenthusiastic about NAFTA. And I think that’s putting it mildly. I’m not sure she objected to all the provisions of it but she just didn’t see why her husband and that White House had to go and do that fight. She was very unhappy about it and wanted to move on to health care. So I do think there’s some justification for her camp saying, you know, she’s never been a great backer for NAFTA." [David Gergen, Anderson Cooper 360, 2/25/08]
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- 36.1
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Open letter to Mr Obama,
Do you realize the incredible opportunity this recent spat of
misfortunes has given you to show the American people your leadership
skills? Do you think now is the time for you to show the American
people how to create racial healing by taking your place next to
Hillary Clinton as her vice president? Is not now the time for you to
stop splitting the Democratic party apart along the racial divide, end
the so called racial stalemate and show us how to be one people? Is
it not now time for you to practice what you preach and take part in
your own divine inspiration by stopping the division in the Democratic
party?
Why not show us what a leader you can be by taking the first step to
start the healing in the United States and in the Democratic Party so
we
can all move forward to the important work that must be done in this
country? Take the lead Obama. Show us you are worthy to be a leader
and capable of practicing what you preach. You might then be able to
re-establish your credibility with the American Voter.
Contact these media outlets and let them know you want questions about Wright answered:
Obama has STILL not answered the following questions about Jeremiah Wright:
(1) Why did Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and Barack Obama vociferously attack Don Imus and call for his dismissal from NBC radio after his comment about the Rutgers basketball team on one of his radio broadcasts, while this trio did nothing about Jeremiah Wright's hatemongering for 20= years? Why is that acceptable?
(2) Why did Oprah Winfrey support Jeremiah Wright for 24 years, when the people he railed against in his church are the same "rich white people" sitting at home in front of their television sets watching Oprah and reading her magazine. The awful things he said about Hillary Clinton were said not just about her, but about 90% of Oprah's viewership. Where was Oprah's outrage? We know Barack and Michelle Obama gave more than $20,000 to Jeremiah Wright. How much did Oprah give?
(3) Barack Obama demanded Hillary Clinton's schedules as First Lady. She produced over 11,000 documents. When is Barack Obama going to produce a calendar of what days he attended Jeremiah Wright's services at Trinity United Church of Christ. Which sermons did he sit in a pew and listen to? Why did he not speak out against Wright when better judgment would tell him Wright's comments were racist, un-American, and unpatriotic?
Open letter to anonymous - By what twisted logic do you argue that the candidate with the most pledged delegates, the most states won, the most primaries won, the most caucuses won, and the most popular votes won should take second place on the ticket?
Anonymous and HRC: help heal the party. No backroom deals to overturn the will of the Democratic electorate.
SCV
It is the DLC that has exploited the divisions in the Dem party by pushing forward a largely Republican agenda including support for the Iraq war and NAFTA among other things. Start with them and you will see who has been responsible for failing to get a Democrat in the white house for these last several elections and who continues to wedge us further apart.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Leadership_Council
The DLC has been of the opinion since 1992 that the only way to elect Democrats to the Executive is to make sure they are centrists. After Carter, Mondale and Dukakis, there was a strong push to find a person who was not a left wing nut job...lo and behold Bill Clinton won the election (with help from Ross Perot.)
Al Gore and John Kerry were two who sort of did not fit the DLC profile.
i don't know what the first responder to this article is smoking but it has wreaked havoc with his/her analytical skills.
here we have him/her advocating that the front runner who believes in honesty and transparency take the vice presidency behind one who is far from honest and as secretive as bush.
he/she accuses obama who was attempting to run a race free and non contentious race of dividing the dem party... fact, it was the clintons who have introduced race and without shame have succeeded in painting obama as the 'black' candidate.
obama DOES practice what he preaches... it is hillary that does not.
Sorry the Wright issue for any thinking person has been put to bed.Now with the release of her papers it shows Hillary still cannot tell the TRUTH on any issue "I was against the NAFTA from the start" o'yea you pushed for its passage more than once.As far as I can see being a liar is a Clinton trademark and is with out a doubt registered with the liar's club...
Hi folks and Hillary tricksters posting above under renatam oppo postings against Barack. Don't you guys have a name -- or are you afraid to use it? No worries. It will SOON be over and you can move on to helping our Senator from NY revote for The Patriot Act as she did before! More tricks at the State Department!!! Gotta love the Clinton supporters -- and Karl Rove!
on March 13th Hillary Clinton - surrounded by military supporters said:
“As voters evaluate you as a potential Commander-in-Chief, do you think it’s legitimate for people to be concerned that you have traveled to only one NATO country, on a brief stopover trip in 2005, and have never traveled to Latin America?”
The question could be “how did Senator Clinton know this?”
One possible answer:
“It’s just been reported that one of the people involved in the breach reported to a Mora Hardy, a State Department manager who was made an Ambassador by former President Bill Clinton”
Former Clinton ambassador to Paraguay; Mora Hardy. was the supervisor in charge of the two contract employees dismissed after Jan 9th and Feb 21st breaches of security in going into Sen Obama’s passport files.
This is the same supervisor who, was reported, did not report these incidents to her supervisors.
Mora Hardy retired as the Asst Sec of State for Consular Affairs last month (after the Feb 21st incident).
The third incident was last Friday March 14th but this contract employee was not fired and suddenly this story is leaked to the Washington Times.
This is not the work of the Bush Administration.
This has CLINTON written all over it
wait—
Passportgate:
In the Clinton case, it was a TRAINING offense while a former Diplomat appointed by Bill Clinton was MANAGING the Consular Office and not reporting two sequential incidents. In the Obama case(s) it was FIREABLE OFFENSES. In the McCain case the DISCIPLINED (March 14, 2008) but not fired employee is responsible. Distinction please. In both the McCain and Obama cases -- WHO BENEFITS??? Whose desperate to WIN by any means possible?