How... *Clintonian* of you, Senator Obama. [UPDATED]
I guess it all hinges on what the definition of "denial" is.
By Moe Lane Posted in 2008 | NAFTA | NAFTAquiddick | Obamafiles | There You Go Again — Comments (29) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
[UPDATE: "NAFTAquiddick." I love it. - Moe Lane]
Ed Morrissey brings us the latest round in the Obama NAFTA flap. Apparently, somebody was taking notes in Chicago.
Oops.
Canadian memo recounts meetingSAN ANTONIO, Texas - Barack Obama's senior economic policy adviser privately told Canadian officials to view the debate in Ohio over trade as "political positioning," according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press that was rejected by the adviser and held up Monday as evidence of doublespeak by rival
The memo is the first documentation to emerge publicly out of the meeting between the adviser, Austan Goolsbee, and officials with the Canadian consulate in Chicago, but Goolsbee said it misinterprets what he told them. The memo was written by Joseph DeMora, who works for the consulate and attended the meeting.
"Noting anxiety among many U.S. domestic audiences about the U.S. economic outlook, Goolsbee candidly acknowledged the protectionist sentiment that has emerged, particularly in the Midwest, during the primary campaign," the memo said. "He cautioned that this messaging should not be taken out of context and should be viewed as more about political positioning than a clear articulation of policy plans."
Obamaspinning after the fold.
The Obama campaign clearly hasn't decided yet whether to go with having Goolsbee claim that the statement was inaccurate, or else just throwing him under the bus, so they've tried both: he's saying that DeMora got it wrong, and Obama spokesman Bill Burton disavowed the meeting in the first place as Goolsbee not being (to quote the AP article) "an emissary from the campaign, but as a professor from the University of Chicago." They might have been better off trying the original tactic of concentrating on the supposed (while not yet actually discredited) original meeting between the campaign and the Canadian embassy. Then again, perhaps not. The narrative on that one is a minefield for Democratic activists who have spent the last six years praising anonymous allegations made by government officials, which is probably why everyone involved jumped on the Goolsbee revelation with a sigh of relief. In a way, it's much less dangerous to the status quo.
And now for the commentary. Q&O puts the boot in; and, amusingly, so does MyDD. Indeed, prospects for a nice little knife-fight in an alley among the Left are looking good right now, as TPM, TalkLeft, and TNR start sounding off. Needless to say, the Clinton campaign has seized upon this as well - check out the Q&O link for a link - so expect online pushback on this pretty darn soon.
Pass the popcorn.
Moe Lane
PS: We will no doubt have earnest people popping by to bitterly complain how none of this is fair, so the rest of you may want to avoid drinking liquids while actually reading this blog for the rest of the day.
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How... *Clintonian* of you, Senator Obama. [UPDATED] 29 Comments (0 topical, 29 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
I love the scene this presents: Democratic operative sparring over which of their candidates is more insincere!
A flap indeed. A flap like no other flap has flapped before.
The man is such a prissy boy he won't even stand up with courage for his convictions.
What a wimp.
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"If we want to take this party back, and I think we can someday, let’s get to work." – Barry Goldwater
Goolsbee reminds me of the clown in the Clinton administration (for the life of me I can't remember his name) who testified under oath in a congressional hearing that he lied to his diary..
Barack Hussein Obama? Please...
Close your eyes, click your heels together and say it with me:
Party of Lincoln! Party of Lincoln!
Look. You're welcome to join Red State, but you really ought to consider reading us for more than 18 hours before lecturing us on who's the better Republican.
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"If we want to take this party back, and I think we can someday, let’s get to work." – Barry Goldwater
Hasn't PC gotten out of hand, when somebody can't point out the Republicans are the "Party of Lincoln" without it being taken as a slur?
It's a simple historical fact! The Republicans are the "Party of Lincon". What's wrong with pointing it out?
...speak. You must not speak it.
Besides, his new middle name is 'Milhous'.
--furious
"I find your lack of faith disturbing." -- Darth Vader
My favorite line from your links was from TNR: "What is it with these Canadians? Are they running some sort of entrapment operation up there? Why do they keep trying to torpedo Democratic candidates?
But I'm sure it's all, you know, those Canadian conservatives who don't understand that you can't just go around repeating confidential stuff like you're the NYTimes or something. If we could only go back to the good old days when international socialists stuck up for each other. Those bad, bad Canadians, telling the truth like that.
So Hillary didn't talk to the Canadians about NAFTA. Good for her. I think. But for all that talk about bringing our troops home in 60 days, maybe she has triangulated just ever so slightly. Gen. Jack Keane (ret) is now assuring the world that Hillary will "probably" stay the course in Iraq. After all, ""Senator Clinton is very knowledgeable about national security and is probably going to be strong on defense."" Probably, that is. (My emphasis)
http://www.nysun.com/article/72209
Take your pick, Dems. Do you want lies about NAFTA or Iraq?
McCain can simply say he will stay in NAFTA and Iraq and be the only candidate telling the truth.
The thought that when it comes to NAFTA the Canadians might prefer the stance of the Republican candidate appears to not crossed the man's mind.
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC. I've been usurped!
Hey hoser, it's obviously the Northern Arm of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy
Thus far, Obama is playing at a beginner level and is not even close to the master level of Bill and Hillary. (Bill is more like grandmaster level.) After all, Bill and Hillary have been polishing their skill level for two decades.
Now when it comes to victimology, there Hillary and Barack are much more comparable in skill.
of this bru ha ha. If the media actually held Obama accountable this could even become a legitimate scandal however this will be reported in a disjointed manner by a few outlets but it won't turn into a national story.
I think the better line of attack is to hold Obama's feet to the fire for being against free trade with our neighbors while at the same time being for open dialogue with our enemies. What sort of perverted geopolitical view is that?
Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor
Perfectly summed up.
Too often free-traders are scared to bang home the message but maybe now is the time with the Dems having tied themselves in knots. The simple economic facts (trade and GDP growth) show what's been achieved.
More than that you contrast straight talk and America sticking to standing agreements with the fishy claims that the Dems could make the deal 'better'.
Seriously how many Americans think they should be giving a hard time to Mexico and Canada while rolling out the red carpet for Chavez and Ahmadinejad?
then do it by drawing contrasts where they are obvious and stand on those principles.
Let's be free traders and not shy away from saying that in general free trade is good for this country. NAFTA, CAFTA, and FTAA, were all helpful for this country. Did you know that in Mexico it is the farmers that complain about NAFTA, because of all the crop that our farmers import there at cheaper prices. It sounds as though NAFTA was great for our farmers. It doesn't help everyone, but it helps more than it hurts.
Let's stand up for less taxes over more taxes. Less government over more government. For victory over withdrawal. Strict constructionists over judicial acitivists.
I think the Reps can draw good solid contrasts and debate those contrasts and win if they simply stand up for the principles we have always had.
Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor
to fight the corner on free trade.
It makes helps Americans rich and poor by increasing economic opportunities and reducing the cost of living. It helps Canadians and Mexicans in the same way. This is good for America for both prosperity and security.
Repeat as necessary.
And let the Dem candidate try come up with anything as coherent without contradictig themselves.
free trade agreements is to see what our partners say about it. As I pointed out, the Mexicans complain about being undercut on crop. That tells me that NAFTA is a boon for our farmers. See which industries in Canada are complaining and there you go.
Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor
and the Rezko trial, Hillary would be an absolute fool to get out now. All she has to do is win Ohio by a slim margin and I say she can go forward. The luster is coming off of The Messiah so she and Bubba can start the arm twisting of the SD. The odds certainly aren't in her favor right now, but I wouldn't count her out yet. And remember, she still has Rendell's machine behind her.
a tiny amount of embarrassment from these two things, you are in a conservative bubble. In the rest of the world, Obama is phenomenon and most people don't care much about specifics like Rezko. They only care about his inspirational speeches.
Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor
http://www.redstate.com/blogs/paconservative/2008/mar/03/ive_come_home_m...
There will be more.
Is it enough for her to win? Not likely, but it is still enough to keep her fighting him. And that is only good news for us.
one election... May the best crook win.
Formally known as Deagle... "Golf is a way of life..."
HONEST politicians (from Chicago yet...ha)! I doubt that the electorate will ever learn (fast enough) with our outstanding media... Buyers remorse seems to be the best that we can hope for.
Formally known as Deagle... "Golf is a way of life..."
...the Canadian embassy (when it was the consulate in Chicago), then, when caught, deploy the "me-or-your-own-lying ears" defense.
Amateurs.
--furious
"I find your lack of faith disturbing." -- Darth Vader
and the response I got back was "He is obviously a racist bigot who is trying to throw obstacles in the path of hope, peace and unity in a post-racist America." After that I got brief spurts of "Obama Clintonian?!" and "*&%^$#! Ashcroft" and "vast right wing conspiracy" before the program removed itself from memory.
I'm sorry to say, while I don't believe the programming is what you or I would consider logical, it has about a 90% accuracy rate as a predictor of Dem behavior. Hopefully the argument plays better with moderates, but I haven't been able to justify the cost/benefit ratio for that module yet.
Ontario, Canada is dying like you all are re: automaunfacturing.
Alberta, Canada is still booming thanks to oil...but we have our Provincial elections today. I predict a Conservative win, but who knows. Calgarians are very upset with the PC Party...I voted more right wing today - for the Wild Rose Alliance Party.
We have 97,000 Americans living and working in Calgary alone. Hope the Republicans Abroad support your Rep Winner (even if it is McCain).
Katie W. Robinette
Calgary, Alberta
The media up here in the great white north is all over this. Although as a group the media here are very liberal (especially the state-run CBC) and are very pro-Obama, they like the fact Canada is in the middle of a big US story.
We had our free trade battle 20 years ago. The Conservatives won. We too had liberals campaign against it (one even won). Even the guy who won, partly based on his lying that he would change it, was not so vacant to actually do something about it.
Barack is too left wing for Canada, I have no idea how Americans would elect him.
Paraphrased from a great Canadian band, 'He ain't pretty, he just looks that way'
'Has anyone seen my snowshoes?'
greatly put!!
BTW guys I found some brilliant/awesome analysis on Obama’s Fundraising and other current happenings on the campaign. I haven’t seen anything like this mentioned anywhere in the MSM.
Check out the article “Follow the Money” on http://savagepolitics.com/?p=165, “Bush’s Twin and the G.O.P.” http://savagepolitics.com/?p=172 and “Barack Obama’s Apotasy” http://savagepolitics.com/?p=101
Check their “Political Analysis” and "Humor" sections for other striking perspectives and comedic analysis on both parties.
Saying one thing while doing another, all while pandering to your party's base. That's change you can believe in.