Can Obama be trusted on free trade?

The Associated Press

Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton criticize NAFTA in Ohio, but Texas is choked with incoming traffic from Mexico.

Featured Topic | Posted 37 weeks 4 days ago

Can Obama be trusted on free trade?

So, is Barack Obama in favor of preserving the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), or would he renegotiate its terms? Does Obama want to expand free trade agreements between the United States and other countries, such as Colombia? Or does Barack Obama prefer trade agreements that protect labor unions and require extensive environmental rules?

These should be fairly straightforward questions, but somehow Obama's position on trade has become a matter of controversy. Some campaign insiders have said Obama’s protectionist stand on the trail was “more reflective of political maneuvering than policy.”

Should the next president revisit free trade? Or have free trade agreements such as NAFTA benefited the United States as a whole?

Ben likes: Sage's sagacity

New York Sun

Warren Buffett's advice on trade is exactly the opposite of the NAFTA-bashing message that the billionaire's preferred presidential candidates, Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton, have been offering to the voters of Ohio. It's more in line with the pro-NAFTA message that Mr. Obama's economic aides have been assuring Canada he will hew once the primary season is over, and with the pro-Nafta message on which President Clinton rode to re-election in 1996. But on the record, Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton are on this issue singing from a different hymnal than Mr. Buffett.

Joel likes: More concerns on Obama, trade

John Nichols/The Nation

Focus in on this core question: Is Barack Obama playing games with the trade issue that he has made central to his appeal to the voters of Wisconsin, Ohio and other industrial states where concerns about deals such as NAFTA runs deep?

And if he is doing so, will he end up planting the seeds of distrust similar to those planted by Al Gore and John Kerry in 2000 and 2004 on the trade issue? If he is talking out of both sides of his mouth, and if there are more revelations to come in this regard, then Obama is doing serious damage to his fall prospects as a Democratic presidential nominee.

Obama sounds a lot better than Gore or Kerry. That may be enough for a primary fight. But if he wants to win the presidency, he is going to need to be a lot better.