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Clinton: 'I'm Just Getting Warmed Up' and NAFTA
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ShareMarch 03, 2008 10:13 AM
ABC News' Kate Snow, Sunlen Miller and Eloise Harper Report: Senator Hillary Clinton says she fully expects to win tomorrow and move on to Pennsylvania and the other states that hold contests beyond tomorrow’s big primary day.
“I’m just getting warmed up,” said a confident Clinton.
Clinton says she has just one measure of success tomorrow -- “Winning.” Asked several times what precisely would constitute a victory on Tuesday (would she need to win big? Win in all four states?) she returned to the same answer four times—“Winning. Winning. Winning. That’s my measure of success. Winning.”
“Ohio is key to winning the presidency,” Clinton told reporters early Monday in Toledo. And having traveled through the buckeye state for the past 24 hours, she said “it feels really good out there”.
But on this day before the big contest, she was also eager to continue to draw contrasts with Senator Barack Obama.
Clinton zeroed in on a new report about a memo written by a member of the Canadian government, which suggested that the Obama campaign had indirectly given members of the Canadian government some assurances that any talk about reforming NAFTA on the campaign trail should be viewed as nothing more than election year politics.
“Well if you come to Ohio and you both give speeches that are very critical of NAFTA and you send out misleading and false information about my position regarding NAFTA and then we find out that your chief economic advisor has gone to a foreign government and basically done the old wink wink, don’t pay any attention this is just political rhetoric. I think that raises serious questions,” Clinton said.
“I would ask you to look at that story. Substitute my name for Senator Obama’s name and see what you would do with that story,” Clinton said, suggesting that the story would be getting more attention if it were about her, rather than about Senator Obama.
The internal document, obtained by the Associated Press, recounts a conversation between a senior economic advisor to the Obama campaign, Austan Goolsbee, and officials with the Canadian consulate in Chicago.
“Goolsbee candidly acknowledged the protectionist sentiment that has emerged, particularly in the Midwest, during the primary campaign. 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,” the memo read, according to the Associated Press.
Gooslbee told the AP that the memo was an inaccurate portrayal of his private discussion with the Canadian officials and called it a mis-representation of his words. He also told the AP that he was surprised that such a low-level meeting had created so much controversy.
Later Monday, Obama acknowledged his senior economics adviser did meet with Canadian officials, but disputed the Canadian government memo that said Obama's rhetoric on protectionism shouldn't be taken too seriously.
"It turned out that the Canadian consulate in Chicago contacted my, one of my advisors, Austen Goolsbee, on their own initiative, invited him down to meet with them. He went down there as a courtesy and at some point they started talking about trade and NAFTA," Obama said.
But his said that everything Goolsbee spoke about was in line with his views on NAFTA: "The Canadian embassy has confirmed that he said exactly what I’ve said on the campaign trail which is that I believe in trade but that it is important for us to have labor standards and environmental standards that are enforceable and that I would intend to take modifications in amendments to NAFTA that will make them enforceable," Obama said.
Obama turned this story around on Clinton and said they are the ones fueling the argument: "This notion that Senator Clinton in peddling that somehow there is contradictions or winks and nods has been disputed by all the parties involved. What’s not disputed is that Senator Clinton and her husband championed NAFTA, worked on behalf of NAFTA, called it a victory, called it good for America until she started running for president. That is indisputable. That is a fact. And so I know that the Clinton campaign ahs been true to its word in pulling a kitchen sink strategy."
March 3, 2008 in Bush, George W., Tancredo, Tom | Permalink | User Comments (32)
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Seriously, some news room needs to run the test that Hillary is suggesting, just so you can finally get your internal bias exposed.
Posted by: WestCoastMessenger | Mar 3, 2008 10:18:52 AM
why are we not checking into this guy?
What about the London times and his slumlord and his middle east dealings
Posted by: Bishop | Mar 3, 2008 10:28:03 AM
THANK YOU , THANK YOU, THANK YOU ABC NEWS FOR RUNNING THIS STORY. AT LEAST THERE IS ONE SITE THAT RUNS UN-BIASED STORIES.
Posted by: stevem | Mar 3, 2008 10:45:09 AM
The health of the US economy depends on a host of factors, many of them international.
Any candidate's statement suggesting withdrawal from NAFTA or other international trade agreements, especially with our North American neighbors, should throw up red flags to voters.
When a campaign starts to label its own policy statements as political posturing before the culmination of an election process, voters should view this as a pretense to the manner that such an administration would conduct itself should it actually win an election.
Posted by: Ken | Mar 3, 2008 10:51:06 AM
So much for Obama's doubletalk. He won't be responsible for it; his handlers will, and the media will bless them both.
Posted by: georgia | Mar 3, 2008 11:12:26 AM
To Richardo Brown: Did you lose your way, or is that a paper for your class?
Posted by: georgia | Mar 3, 2008 11:15:33 AM
She has lost!
Her last objective is making Obama loose against MacCain.
This is so disgusting.
Posted by: Mark | Mar 3, 2008 11:30:43 AM
Maybe I am crazy but this Canada thing is a bit fishy...I think it is odd that we know that the Bill Clinton was just associated with the Canadian business person Frank Giustra with a whole lot of money donated to the Clinton foundation and now on this page it is stated the question -- Why is the conservative Canadian government leaking this memo and getting involved in a Democratic primary race?
Posted by: marie | Mar 3, 2008 11:33:08 AM
Yeah Marie, blame it on Clinton as usual. Never mind that the Obama camp NOW says that a meeting did take place, and NOW say that Goolsbee was simply misunderstood. The Canadians didn't LEAK the memo, they sent it around their government to allay fears over NAFTA as business as usual. Even when caught red handed you Obama supports refuse to face facts. The thing that most of Obama's friends remmember about him, is his ambition, first and foremost. He'll say and do anything to get elected. Just like every politican.
Posted by: JR | Mar 3, 2008 11:44:53 AM
Of course Obama isn't going to be held responsible for this. Once again it simply gets "explained away." No questions asked. What other promises do you suppose he has made while speaking out the other side of his mouth. While he is promising healthcare do you suppose he is sending messengers out to meet with the pharmaceutical and insurance companies telling them not to worry, this is just a political tactic? What about more affordable college for our young? Suppose he has representatives calming the banking institution telling them not to worry, they'll still be able to screw over our young americans, this is just a political tactic? WHEN WILL THIS GUY BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANYTHING????
Posted by: Jake H | Mar 3, 2008 11:46:26 AM
She is right I can only imagine the day before a primary and it was the other way around and the Hillary camp got caught in this NAFTA thing, what would of been happening all now.
Every chat site, blog, newspaper, media house phone would be ringing off the hook on this. The TV stations would have a major "Breaking News" event, reporting on the Hillary camp lie.
Advertising would take a back seat to the trailers of every spoken word Hillary ever said on NAFTA. The talking head would be going at it for hours calling for her to drop out of the race.
She is so correct with this now the MSM is trying to dump this story like a hot potato, and pretend it never happened.
Posted by: SJ | Mar 3, 2008 11:51:27 AM
Prediction: The two candidates will evenly divide the delegates tomorrow. Obama will maintain his lead in elected delegates. Clinton will stay in the race until the bitter end. Obama will still have a delegate lead going into the convention, but the Clintons will find a way to sleaze the nomination away from him. The convention will be very ugly, splitting the Democats. McCain will cruise to an easy win in November.
Posted by: Don | Mar 3, 2008 11:52:59 AM
Sorry, in my last sentence I misspelled Democrats.
Posted by: Don | Mar 3, 2008 11:56:19 AM
Just Getting Warmed Up?
Hillary you're about to be
Sent To The Showers!
Bye Bye Hillary! Take Bill with You!
Posted by: reaganfan | Mar 3, 2008 12:01:02 PM
I agree 100% with you Don. The dems aren't going to win this time around once again. The voters are split too evenly between Clinton and Obama and there has been too much hostility and negativity between the candidates and their supporters. The repubs will stay in control another four years and the dems (myself included), have no one to blame but their own tunneled vision selves.
Posted by: Julie | Mar 3, 2008 12:09:03 PM
What do you call the student who graduates with the lowest GPA in his/her medical school class?
Doctor.
Okay, honestly though. I know quite a few people who have failed the bar exam, CPA exams, performed poorly on GMATs, etc. That stuff happens. I never test well with standardized tests and I would not consider myself to be dumb (I'm sure some of you here will disagree).
Your question may be a valid one, but I would encourage you to look at the factors that truly matter to you (improving the economy, how to end the war in Iraq, immigration reform, etc.). If in the end the fact the she failed the first time matters most to you, then you should definitely cast your vote in a way that let's you sleep at night (by the way, that is not meant to be "fear-mongering," just an honest opinion).
Posted by: LOM | Mar 3, 2008 12:13:36 PM
Hilliary Clinton is so cold that she is "only getting warmed up" NOW... Wow, and they thought BUSH was distorted from reality!!!
Posted by: cba | Mar 3, 2008 12:15:29 PM
What is this Rezko affair in comparison to Hillary Clinton's Whitewater scandal, her spectacular profits from cattle futures trading already in the late seventies, Travelgate, Filegate, just to mention the highlights of her highly questionable and heavily investigated affairs. All cases with MANY loose ends, with the GOP waiting to pick them up as soon as she'll be the nominee.
Do Democrats don't remember these affairs? Can anybody explain? I really don't get it.
Posted by: Harold | Mar 3, 2008 12:16:19 PM
Warmed up on NAFTA? She supported it and now is running her tail off in Ohio telling them what they want to hear and her story on NAFTA changes when speaking in Texas LOL and those poor people in Ohio are not any the wiser apparently. People need to stop and think for a minute and remember the Clintons from the 90's...the lawsuits, the guilty charges, why Bill can't hold federal office again since he has been found guilty of a federal charge of perjury. These people have not changed.
Posted by: Brian | Mar 3, 2008 12:41:24 PM
I'm going to get alot of hugs. Heading out to the Obama rally in Houston.
Isn't Hillary having a hard time filling up seats?
Who wants to be screeched at?
Posted by: JB | Mar 3, 2008 1:12:43 PM
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