Word: nafta
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Obama's losses to Hillary Clinton in the March 4 Texas, Ohio, and Rhode Island primaries were bookended by incidents involving Obama policy advisors, Austan Goolsbee and Samantha Power, who became enmeshed in controversies involving some of the most significant issues of the campaign: NAFTA, the Iraq War, and Obama's professed rejection of negative campaign tactics...
...Goolsbee controversy occurred first, and the facts remain somewhat in dispute. What is now acknowledged is that Goolsbee met with Canadian diplomats at their consulate in Chicago and discussed international trade, including the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). A Canadian government memo written after the meeting suggested that...
...Goolsbee had downplayed Obama's campaign trail rhetoric decrying NAFTA's effect on the American economy, saying that as President Obama would not seek to overturn or radically reshape the agreement, a deal that is viewed as a good thing by American's neighbors to the north. After first denying the meeting took place, the Obama campaign claimed that the written account mischaracterized Goolsbee's conversation and that there was no cynical difference between the candidate's campaign position on NAFTA and his true intentions should he become President...
...Clinton campaign mercilessly flogged the issue in the days leading up to the voting last Tuesday, not only suggesting that Obama could not be trusted on NAFTA specifically, but calling into question Obama's candor generally. It is unclear whether this issue played a role in Clinton's March 4 success, particularly in Ohio, but it certainly exposed a side of Obama that the public has rarely seen: wavering, caviling and possibly equivocating...
...cases of Goolsbee and Power, the comments carried serious weight. Obama was trying to argue before the Ohio contest that he was more trustworthy than Clinton on fixing the flaws in NAFTA - and more trustworthy in general. Power's "monster" comment cast doubt on his campaign's contention that Clinton has been running the more personally negative campaign. Furthermore, steadfast opposition to the presence of American troops in Iraq is one of the chief points of contrast that has benefited Obama in his fight against Clinton. In recent days, news organizations for the first time have stepped up their scrutiny...