DNC blasts McCain on Trade, Colombia
Posted: Wednesday, July 02, 2008 12:22 PM by Domenico Montanaro
From NBC's Alex Wall and Katie Mulhall
DNC Vice Chair Linda Chavez-Thompson and Chief Economist for Unite Here Mark Levinson railed against McCain’s support for President Bush’s “failed” trade policies in response to the senator’s trip to Colombia. During the conference call, the duo also called into question McCain adviser Charlie Black’s role as a lobbyist pushing the Colombia Free Trade Agreement.
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Chavez-Thompson cited the two-and-a-half million U.S. jobs lost due to Bush’s trade policies and warned that McCain’s support of the Colombia Free Trade Agreement would further U.S. job loses.
“Time and time again, we have seen nothing but a continuation of policies that have failed working people,” Chavez-Thompson said.
Chavez-Thompson went on to criticize McCain for “putting lobbyists and special interests first.” The group specifically cited Black’s past role as a lobbyist as a “legitimate reason” to question “who is advising the McCain campaign, who is influencing his policies [and] who would be part of his administration?”
Levinson argued that the contrast between the two presidential candidates’ campaign schedules is indicative of what constituencies they consider important.
“At a time when American workers are suffering, we think the contrast couldn’t be greater,” Levinson said. “While John McCain is in Colombia, Obama is in Ohio.” Levinson referred to the Buckeye state as “ground zero” for U.S. workers.
“Barack Obama’s shifting positions on free trade won’t add more jobs or get our economy back on track,” McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said. “During the Democratic primary, Sen. Obama called NAFTA a ‘big mistake’ and pledged to unilaterally renegotiate it, but now he calls his previous position ‘overheated and amplified.’ You can’t change your position depending on who you’re talking to or what election you’re in and expect to be taken seriously. That’s pandering, not leadership. As his recent reversals on key issues like NAFTA, FISA, the Second Amendment and public financing clearly show, Barack Obama’s words don’t mean that much to him. So we’ll stay tuned to see what his position is tomorrow.”
