Obama campaign claims advisor not acting as part of campaign

[rinsd]

<snip beginning of article>

Canada supports NAFTA and does not want to see it interrupted.

The Canadian memo said that when Rioux "asked whether we could expect to hear more of this as the elections progressed, Goolsbee thought not. In fact, he mentioned that going forward the Obama camp was going to be careful to send the appropriate message without coming off too protectionist.

"As Obama continues to court the economic populist vote, particularly in upcoming contests like Ohio, we are likely to see a continuation of some of the messaging that hasn't played in Canada's favour, but this should continue to be viewed in the context in which it is delivered," DeMora wrote in the closing section.

Obama spokesman Bill Burton said Goolsbee's visit was not as an emissary from the campaign, but as a professor from the University of Chicago. He was not authorized to share any messages from the campaign, Burton said.

Burton, who was on the call while Goolsbee described his visit to the AP, said, "It all boils down to a clumsy, inaccurate portrayal of the conversation."

Asked if he agreed with Burton's summary, Goolsbee said he did.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080303/democrats_nafta.html?.v=1

[thereismore]

1. OMG, Obama is going down!

:crazy:

[jody]

2. BO is a political chameleon, he'll "change" his position to whatever seems appropriate at the moment

[carlotta]

3. You know you're in trouble when...

with each passing hour, the story changes.

[Debi]

4. Here's more from that story:

<snip>

Goolsbee said he has been surprised that such a banal and trivial meeting with a low-level consulate official has created so much controversy and resulted in such an inaccurate depiction. He said he was invited to the consulate to meet the officials and get a tour.

He said the visit lasted about 40 minutes, and perhaps two to three minutes were spent discussing NAFTA. He said the Canadians asked about Obama's position, and he replied about his interest in improving labor and environmental standards, and they raised some concerns that Obama sounds like a protectionist.

He said he responded that Obama is not a protectionist, but that the Illinois senator tries to strike a balance between the economic struggles of working Americans and recognizing that free trade is good for the economy.

"That's a pretty ham-handed description of what I answered," Goolsbee said of memo's description of "political positioning." "A: In no possible way was that a reference to NAFTA. And B: In no possible way was I inferring that he was going to introduce any policies that you should ignore and he had no intention of enacting. Those are both completely crazy."

<snip>

[rinsd]

10. That would seem to undercut the whole he's just there as a professor claim, no?

[Debi]

22. No - his personal opinion is not the campaign's position.

But you go with what you want :thumbsup:

[rinsd]

25. Canadian officials regularly have policy & campaign discussions with random professors?

[Lucinda]

26. LOL

[Debi]

28. He was sent to Canada by the campaign to negotiate NAFTA? n/t

[rinsd]

29. Never said that.

I do find claiming a campaign's senior economic policy advisor having campaign discussions related to trade is not acting on behalf of the campaign a bit hard to swallow.

[Debi]

34. And yet it's been denied by both parties

"...having campaign discussions related to trade..."

Next you'll tell me you still believe Obama is a Muslim...:eyes:

[yourguide]

5. Canadian embassy issues APOLOGY & RETRACTION

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0308/Canadians_regret.html#comments


Canadians regret...

There's lots of grist for Canadian political reporters right now, as the Canadian Embassy issues an apology and a sort of recantation -- though not really a denial -- of the Goolsbee story. This happens even as their superiors in Ottawa seem determined to cause trouble in the Democratic primary.

The Canadian Embassy and our Consulates General regularly contact those involved in all of the Presidential campaigns and, periodically, report on these contacts to interested officials. In the recent report produced by the Consulate General in Chicago, there was no intention to convey, in any way, that Senator Obama and his campaign team were taking a different position in public from views expressed in private, including about NAFTA. We deeply regret any inference that may have been drawn to that effect.

The people of the United States are in the process of choosing a new President and are fortunate to have strong and impressive candidates from both political parties. Canada will not interfere in this electoral process. We look forward, however, to working with the choice of the American people in further building an unparalleled relationship with a close friend and partner.

So they're not disputing the text of the memo, just what it's words intended to convey. Perhaps it's the language barrier, but I'm not sure there's a clear alternative reading.

Anyway, the dread specter of Canadian interference has now been raised.

[NightWatcher]

8. d'oh and the wheels fall off that non-scandal

btw rezko rezko rezko rezko

[rodeodance]

6. ha ha ---BO camp is in DAMAGE CONTROL MODE

[ProSense]

9. You're jumping for joy over a debunked story!

What does that say?

[rodeodance]

11. joys---

[SoFlaJet]

17. what it says PS

is they are the most desperate campaign in the history of recent American politics-does Dewey Defeats Truman sound familiar? It's so funny to see the supporters here and all over television like Lanny Davis and Terry McCauliffe and Hillary Rosen try and come on with an all the sunshine they can blow up our asses agenda. AND NONE OF IT IS WORKING> Even all the Rezco thread we've been seeing here for the last few days-none of it sticks-they are going DOWN like the Titanic

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

19. Debunked? ROFLMAO!!!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[ProSense]

21. I see your lot of similies and raise you valuable facts:

Story debunked, again. Canadian embassy apologizes, and Obama's position is still not a secret

Canadians regret...

There's lots of grist for Canadian political reporters right now, as the Canadian Embassy issues an apology and a sort of recantation -- though not really a denial -- of the Goolsbee story. This happens even as their superiors in Ottawa seem determined to cause trouble in the Democratic primary.

The Canadian Embassy and our Consulates General regularly contact those involved in all of the Presidential campaigns and, periodically, report on these contacts to interested officials. In the recent report produced by the Consulate General in Chicago, there was no intention to convey, in any way, that Senator Obama and his campaign team were taking a different position in public from views expressed in private, including about NAFTA. We deeply regret any inference that may have been drawn to that effect.

The people of the United States are in the process of choosing a new President and are fortunate to have strong and impressive candidates from both political parties. Canada will not interfere in this electoral process. We look forward, however, to working with the choice of the American people in further building an unparalleled relationship with a close friend and partner.

So they're not disputing the text of the memo, just what it's words intended to convey. Perhaps it's the language barrier, but I'm not sure there's a clear alternative reading.

Anyway, the dread specter of Canadian interference has now been raised.

A side story, as Noam Scheiber writes: "What's shocking is that a foreign government would leak it to the press. That seems like a pretty egregious breach of protocol--more like a dirty trick by an operative in a conservative government than anything else. I can't imagine it'll bode well for U.S.-Canadian relations if Obama makes it to the White House ...."

What does it say that Hillary's campaign is pushing this bogus RW distortion?

Obama's position on NAFTA isn't a secret. He opposed the Clintons' horrible NAFTA bill, but he isn't opposed to free trade. He also made his position clear during the last debate:

RUSSERT: Senator Obama, you did, in 2004, talk to farmers and suggest that NAFTA had been helpful. The Associated Press today ran a story about NAFTA saying that you have been consistently ambivalent towards the issue.

A simple question. Will you as president say to Canada and Mexico, this has not worked for us, we are out?

OBAMA: I will make sure that we renegotiate in the same way that Senator Clinton talked about, and I think actually Senator Clinton's answer on this one is right. I think we should use the hammer of a potential opt-out as leverage to ensure that we actually get labor and environmental standards that are enforced.

And that is not what has been happening so far. That is something that I have been consistent about.

I have to say, Tim, with respect to my position on this, you know, when I ran for the United States Senate, the "Chicago Tribune," which was adamantly pro-NAFTA noted that in their endorsement of me, they were endorsing me despite my strong opposition to NAFTA. And that conversation that I had with the Farm Bureau, I was not ambivalent at all.

What I said was that NAFTA and other trade deals can be beneficial to the United States, because I believe every U.S. worker is as productive as any worker around the world. And we can compete with anybody.

And we can't shy away from globalization. We can't draw a moat around us. But what I did say in that same quote, if you look at it, was that the problem is we've been negotiating just looking at corporate profits and what's good for multinationals, and we haven't been looking at what's good for communities here in Ohio, in my home state of Illinois, and across the country. And as president, what I want to be is an advocate on behalf of workers.

Look, you know, when I go to these plants, I meet people who are proud of their jobs. They are proud of the products that they have created. They have built brands and profits for their companies. And when they see jobs shipped overseas and suddenly they're left not just without a job, but without health care, without a pension, and are having to look for seven-buck-an-hour jobs at the local fast-food joint, that is devastating on them, but it's also devastating on the community.

That's not the way that we're going to prosper as we move forward.

link

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

23. Debunked? ROFLMAO!!!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[ProSense]

24. You're in denial. n/t

[hfojvt]

33. no, you are.

You forgot the first law of logic. Whoever posts more :rofl: smilies wins the argument. Sorry to tell you that, but those are the rules.

[rinsd]

12. It hurts them to see the pefect one act like a regular politician.

[rodeodance]

14. I KNOW-- the Obamabubble has a leak

[rodeodance]

7. rec

[Iceburg]

13. It stirred up quite a hornets nest in Canada. The PM played the oil card in response./nt

PM = President (for Obama), Prime Minister for those knowledgeable about foreign affairs

[DJ13]

15. Canada supports NAFTA

As every country getting the better side of that lopsided corporate welfare treaty does.

Isnt that the point of our complaints about NAFTA?

That it is hurting our own economy while helping every other country involved and should be rescinded?

Who cares WHAT Canada says?

[rinsd]

31. I agree. Which is why Canada is backing away from this very quickly.

[Tarc]

16. Yep, just like Jesse Jackson Jr. isn't a part of the campaign either

:rofl:

[Barack_America]

18. I guess that's a distinction from Hillary's campaign...

Where her advisers are distancing themselves from the campaign.

"Mark Penn: I Wasn't In Charge Of Hillary's Campaign
By Eric Kleefeld - March 3, 2008, 10:26AM

Hillary Clinton hasn't even conceded defeat for the Democratic nomination, but top staffers are already publicly blaming each other for what has gone wrong in the campaign. And it seems to be degenerating into two camps: Chief pollster Mark Penn vs. everyone else.

Penn told the Los Angeles Times that his role in the campaign has been overstated — he says he has simply been "an outside message advisor with no campaign staff reporting to me."

"I have had no say or involvement in four key areas — the financial budget and resource allocation, political or organizational sides," Penn told the Los Angeles Times. "Those were the responsibility of Patti Solis Doyle, Harold Ickes and Mike Henry, and they met separately on all matters relating to those areas."

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/03/mark_penn_i_wasnt_in_charge_of.php

So what exactly did he get paid MILLIONS of dollars for? Lol.

[LibertyorDeath]

20. Statement by the Canadian Embassy

News from the Embassy of Canada

Statement by the Canadian Embassy

Washington, D.C., March 3, 2008 — The Canadian Embassy and our Consulates General regularly contact those involved in all of the Presidential campaigns and, periodically, report on these contacts to interested officials. In the recent report produced by the Consulate General in Chicago, there was no intention to convey, in any way, that Senator Obama and his campaign team were taking a different position in public from views expressed in private, including about NAFTA. We deeply regret any inference that may have been drawn to that effect.

http://geo.international.gc.ca/can-am/washington/menu-en.asp?lang_update=1

[oasis]

27. "I won't tell the American people what I think they want to hear, I'll tell the truth".B(nmn)O.

:eyes:

[flyarm]

30. bullfuckingshit...let me say that again..bullfuckingshit! eom

[cottonseed]

32. Agreed. Hillary pinning her hopes on this DEBUNKED story is beyond contempt.

[flyarm]

35. i am replying to the OP...i am saying Obama is lying! eom

[cottonseed]

36. Exactly! The Clinton's accusation that Obama is lying is absurd.

The Canadian government agrees.

[rodeodance]

37. ha ha--Canada and the obamacamp are in damage control mode!1

[rodeodance]

38. " i am replying to the OP...i am saying Obama is lying! eom"--hoho ho