Obama vs. McCain: The trade war
Posted: Wednesday, July 02, 2008 9:33 AM by Domenico Montanaro
As the Washington Post puts it, politics for McCain may stop at the water’s edge -- but not above it. “The moment Sen. John McCain touches down on foreign soil, he says, he will not criticize his Democratic rival for the presidency, Sen. Barack Obama. In international airspace, though? Well, that's a different matter. In two separate interviews with reporters en route to Colombia on Tuesday, McCain questioned Obama's shifting position on trade as well as his experience with Latino voters. Voters, he argued, will ultimately vote Republican once they see the two candidates side by side.”
VIDEO: MSNBC's Contessa Brewer talks with John McCain's senior policy advisor Nancy Pfetenhauer.
The
New York Times says that McCain “called Mr. Obama ‘a protectionist’ and cast him as ignorant about economic forces in the United States. ‘We just have a difference of opinion,’ Mr. McCain said, ‘and I’m a student of history.’ He added: ‘An overwhelming majority of historians will tell you that protectionism and isolationism were a major factor in one of the greatest depressions in the modern history of this country. I’m not going to sit by and see that happen.’”
“The trade deal, which would lift tariffs on the majority of goods traded between the United States and Colombia, has recently moved from the political sidelines to the center of the presidential campaign. Mr. McCain supports the deal as essential to free trade and relations with a crucial ally that receives about $600 million a year in counterinsurgency and anti-narcotics aid, but Mr. Obama and many Democrats oppose it because of workers’ fears about job losses overseas and American labor’s concern over the killings of union leaders in Colombia.”
The Washington Post adds, “McCain's latest trip -- to Colombia and Mexico -- is designed to highlight his positions on trade and, to a lesser degree, immigration. Its value has been questioned by campaign strategists in both parties, since neither issue seems a winner for his campaign. His insistence on the virtues of free trade remain suspect in Rust Belt swing states, and his position on immigration continues to make many conservatives wary.”
Reuters: “McCain, in an unusual trip to Colombia as a U.S. presidential candidate, called on President Alvaro Uribe on Tuesday to make further progress on human rights while pushing the U.S. Congress to vote on a trade pact between the two countries.”
Per NBC/NJ’s Adam Aigner-Treworgy, McCain and his traveling companions Sens. Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham met with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe at Casa de Huespedes -- the Colombian Camp David, per the campaign -- in Cartagena, Colombia last night.
The campaign reported that the politicians’ meeting lasted one hour and 40 minutes, and according to McCain’s comments to the press after their meeting, the two discussed the issue of human right in Colombia for at least part of the time. During his opening comments, Uribe thanked McCain for coming and summarized the portion of their meeting that the pool camera caught on film – basically the two politicians, along with Cindy and Sens. Lieberman and Graham, looked at plaques commemorating the visits of President Clinton and President H.W. Bush.
