Word: naftas
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...logic crumbles even if Perot doesn't win. The President knows the public opposes NAFTA, but he thinks he can fool people into thinking this is a beauty pageant. That is incorrect. Stopping Perot will not stop the wave he's riding...
...basic fact is that the public has lost faith in free trade. Opposition to NAFTA is just part of a broader shift in attitudes. The political future belongs not to the multilateralists but to the nativists, to the Pat Buchanans, the Richard Gephardts, and, yes, the Ross Perots...
...political logic of the Clinton team is tortuous. They hope that the debate will make more people associate opposition to NAFTA with support for Perot. They further hope that Perot will discredit himself by arriving ill-prepared to debate the issue. Therefore, since Perot will lose, NAFTA will win. Q.E.D., and four more years...
...course, this logic crumbles if Perot actually wins the debate. Poor preparation didn't prevent Perot from creaming the wonked-out Clinton and Bush in their debates last year. With two cute phrases--"I'm all ears" and the NAFTA-related "giant sucking sound"--Perot came back from the dead as a serious contender for 1600 Pennsylvania...
Although it seems unlikely at the moment, Congress may end up voting for NAFTA. Clinton may be able to find enough bacon in government warehouses to grease NAFTA'S passage. But many of those members of Congress who vote for NAFTA against the will of their districts won't be members of Congress much longer...