VIDEO: Canada / NAFTA Scandal Began with Clinton Camp

CLINTON CAMPAIGN CALLED TO DOWNPLAY NAFTA

Canada apologized to Obama two days after the primaries were over for this. Now, Canada is abuzz with news that Hillary Clinton’s campaign was the one who actually called Canada to say don’t worry about the NAFTA talk.

WATCH NEWS VIDEO FROM CANADA

• Will the US media cover this story as much as they covered the false stories about Obama?

So far, only MSNBC has reported. WATCH VIDEO.

Excerpt from Canada’s largest newspaper Globe and Mail:
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s chief of staff, Ian Brodie said the following in a room full of reporters.

“Quite a few people heard it,” said one source in the room.

“He said someone from (Hillary) Clinton’s campaign is telling the embassy to take it with a grain of salt. . . That someone called us and told us not to worry.”

Government officials did not deny the conversation took place.

Seems like Hillary wasn’t very truthful when she said this about Obama a few days ago:

“I don’t just criticize [NAFTA]. I don’t have my campaign go tell a foreign government behind closed doors: `That’s just politics. Don’t pay attention to it’”

SOURCES:

‘NAFTAgate’ began with remark from Harper’s chief of staff
Canadian PM Says NAFTAgate Leak Unfair To Obama
Clinton’s role in Nafta-gate

March 4th: Why Hillary Still Lags Behind Obama

CLINTON WON BUT FAILED TO CLOSE GAP

Congratulations to Hillary Clinton on her wins. After a 12 state winning streak by Barack Obama, she has managed 2.5 wins (Rhode Island, Ohio and step 1 of Texas). The problem is, she needed to win by larger margins in order to gain more delegates.

• In spite of media headlines touting Texas for Clinton, step 2 of Texas seems to be going to Obama, so they may have to call Texas a draw. Texas allots 126 delegates in the primary (step 1) and 67 delegates in the caucus (step 2).

There are those who will call Hillary “the Comeback Kid”, and declare her momentum back on track. The truth is, Ohio and Rhode Island were great wins for Clinton morale, but a bust for delegates. Delegates, after all, are what this race is about.

Obama had a 100 delegate lead before March 4th. Here is what changed on March 4th:

• Texas primary: 64 Clinton, 62 Obama (+2 Clinton)
• Texas caucus:  38 Obama, 29 Clinton (+9 Obama)
• Ohio primary: 75 Clinton, 66 Obama (+9 Clinton)
• Rhode Island primary: 13 Clinton, 8 Obama (+5 Clinton)
• Vermont primary: 9 Obama, 6 Clinton (+3 Obama)

March 4th primaries gave Hillary Clinton an addition of 4 delegates more than Obama gained, which still leaves Obama with a 96 delegate lead. Additionally, Obama stands to gain his own momentum back with upcoming primaries in Wyoming and Mississippi.

The only thing this race proved is we have another several weeks of a drawn out (and dirty) race, while the candidates battle for votes and delegates. Neither will be able to handily secure the 2025 delegates needed to seal the nomination, so at some point superdelegates will need to step in to decide what is best for the democratic party.

In that case, clearly the candidate with the most pledged delegates, should be the victor. That will be a tough task for Hillary Clinton, unless she manages a few landslide victories.

SOURCE: Results Center

Also see:

CNN Delegate Counter

Newsweek: Hillary’s Math Problem

The Truth About Obama, Canada & NAFTA

Barack Obama has been hit hard in the last few days by false rumors that a senior member of his campaign phoned a Canadian ambassador in Washington to advise him “not be worried about what Obama says about NAFTA.” The details, obtained by a leaked memo, had been reported by Canada’s CTV News.

The official memo from the meeting emerged later, refuting the claim, but the damage had already been done. The negative news dominated the headlines for days and Hillary Clinton seized the opportunity to plug it into speeches and attack Obama’s authenticity.

“I don’t just criticize [NAFTA]. I don’t have my campaign go tell a foreign government behind closed doors: `That’s just politics. Don’t pay attention to it’”

The truth? The Canadian diplomat invited the Obama campaign official, Austan Goolsbee, for a general meeting that was held in Chicago, not Washington.

Furthermore, the official memo from the meeting indicates that Goolsbee talked about the need for a limited renegotiation of the NAFTA agreement, “in favour of strengthening/clarifying language on labour mobility and environment and trying to establish these as more `core’ principles of the agreement.” This is consistent with what Obama has been saying about NAFTA in public.

The Chicago consulate also issued a statement saying,

“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.”

Hillary to PBS: I Knew All Last Spring

CLINTON EXPECTED THIS SCENARIO, 1 YEAR AGO

Democrat Hillary Clinton told PBS interviewer Judy Woodruff today about a remarkable display of clairvoyance that found the New York senator in the spring of 2007 planning a Texas showdown with Barack Obama on Tuesday.

During an interview with PBS’ “Newshour” program, Woodruff asked Clinton what happened in a race where only months ago she was viewed as the frontrunner and the presumptive nominee, only to be eclipsed by Obama.

“None of this is surprising to me,” Hillary Clinton told Woodruff. “You know, last spring when I looked at how the race was shaping up, I knew that it would be a close contest and I assumed it would be with Sen. Obama and at that time I said, ‘We have got to start thinking about Texas. We have to start thinking ahead.’”

Clinton also said she really doesn’t like the front-runner label, even though the primaries in Texas and Ohio on Tuesday will determine whether her Democratic presidential bid will continue.

“I think it is great that this has been a close contest. I don’t have any problem with that. I don’t think I’m entitled to anything,” she said. “I hate being a front runner.”

–

“It is better to be defeated on principle than to win on lies.” – A. Calwell

Indeed Clinton saw far enough into the future nearly one year ago, that she planned a short-sighted campaign which ran out of money and had a flurry of staff shake ups. For Texas, she was so forward-thinking, she neglected to allocate proper resources and set up a sufficient ground organization in the state.

Just last week, when discussing the Texas delegate nominating system, she said:

“I had no idea how bizarre it is,” Sen. Clinton told reporters last week. “We have grown men crying over it.”

SOURCE: Clinton: Saw Texas Shootout with Obama Coming
SOURCE: Two-Step Vote Could Trip Up Clinton

MSNBC Ohio Debate, Fit for A President?

Hillary Clinton insisted on more debates, and now she has had them. The problem is, for the night of her last showdown, she was tired, testy and temperamental.

The debate did little to hinder Barack Obama’s momentum, but gave us some interesting insights into the mind of Senator Clinton.

Trip Ups & Slip Ups

THE MEDIA
Hillary began by complaining that the debate questioners always give her the first question. She referenced a comedy show to suggest that the media have favored her rival by adding:

“…And if anybody saw ‘Saturday Night Live,’ you know, maybe we should ask Barack if he’s comfortable and needs another pillow.”

That set the tone of the evening, the audience groaned and there was still more to come.

NAFTA
Senator Clinton told us she never, ever supported NAFTA. Obama claimed that was inaccurate. The moderator, Tim Russert, pulled out a few quotes where Senator Clinton did indeed sing the praises of NAFTA. Senator Clinton adjusted her story.

NEW JOBS
The moderator inquired about Senator Clinton’s promise to provide 5 million new jobs as President. He cited the fact that while running for Senate she promised 200,000 jobs for upstate New York but after her election, the region lost 30,000 jobs. Her reason for failing to deliver?

“I thought Al Gore was going to be President.”

TRANSPARENCY & ACCOUNTABILITY
Senator Clinton gave no clear reason for her unwillingness to release her tax returns to show where the $5 million she loaned her campaign came from. When pressed, she finally said she might release her tax returns before she becomes the nominee, but not before March 4th because she “a little busy right now”.

She did however plug her website and encourage people to donate to her.

FOREIGN POLICY
Senator Clinton did a fine job of generally answering a question about the successor of Russia’s current leader, Putin. When asked if she knew the name of the successor, she replied,

“Medve.. Medevev… Whatever”.

WORDS DON’T MATTER
Senator Clinton tells us words don’t matter all the time. Last night, she felt otherwise and took a long moment to claim Obama should use ‘reject’ rather than the word ‘denounce’ concerning Farrakhan’s praise of him.

Senator Obama quickly laid her wordplay to rest, saying “if the word ‘reject’ Senator Clinton feels is stronger than the word ”denounce’ , then I’m happy to concede the point, and I would reject and denounce Farrakhan’s endorsement.”

THE FIGHT..?
Senator Clinton wants us to know she is a fighter (she mentioned it 3 times). She even fought the moderators last night leading MSNBC host Brian Williams to plead for a commercial break.

WILLIAMS: And Senator, I need to reserve…
CLINTON: No, but I have — I just have…
WILLIAMS: I’m sorry, Senator.
CLINTON: No, wait a minute. I have to…
WILLIAMS: I’ve got to get us to a break.
CLINTON: The question was about invading.
WILLIAMS: Television doesn’t stop.
CLINTON: Invading Iraq.
WILLIAMS: Can you hold that thought until we come back from a break? We have limited commercial interruptions tonight, and we have to get to one of them now.

Lack of “presidential” decorum aside, some battles should not be waged.

—

The point is, road-weary or not, we see the same old politics from Hillary Clinton that she is sure to continue as President.

Success in Washington is not about who yells the loudest. An unwillingness to release your tax returns now seems like a harbinger of things to come: continued secrecy. A minor slip of “whatever” about a foreign leader’s name is patently disrespectful. Shifting blame to Al Gore for the failure to deliver on a promise of creating jobs is some strange kind of scapegoating at best. And passionately telling Americans one thing is true, only until someone proves you know otherwise is called dishonesty.

That leaves us with the final question. Where exactly is the change?

FULL TRANSCRIPT OF DEBATE

VIDEO OF DEBATE

Clinton’s Angry Tirade Forgets the Facts

A FLIMSY PREMISE FOR A CHALLENGE

“Meet me in Ohio — let’s have a debate about your tactics.”, Hillary Clinton says.

Hillary Clinton lashed out at Barack Obama today for two mailers sent out from his campaign. She calls the allegations in them “false”.

• One mailer says she supported NAFTA originally. (She did support it, just scroll down below).
• The other mailer mentions that her health plan will force people to purchase it even when they cannot afford it. (You decide, scroll down).

HILLARY ON HEALTHCARE:

Senator Clinton blasted Obama’s mailer and said a democrat should not attack another democrat on health care plans. WATCH VIDEO

However, Hillary failed to mention she also sent out mailers in Wisconsin blasting Obama’s health care plans. You can read the mailer HERE. Hypocrisy, much?

Hillary does say her health care is mandated. WATCH VIDEO. Unfortunately she doesn’t think Americans know the definition of mandate.

man·date – noun, verb: to order or require; make mandatory

Hillary said earlier this year:

Pressed a third time on the wage-garnishing question, Clinton said, “we will have an enforcement mechanism — whether it’s that (wage garnishing) or it’s some other mechanism through the tax system or automatic enrollments.”

The Great Debate & Clinton’s Borrowed Empathy

HOW TO XEROX LINES FOR SYMPATHY VOTES

The debate finally happened last night and for the most part, it was a civil affair. CNN Videos

The two candidates maintained they have similar goals, with different ways of achieving them — Hillary, the way she’s always done things in Washington; Obama, a new way, with transparency and involving the American people.

Highlights?

• Obama confronted Hillary about implying his supporters are delusional. +1 Obama
• Hillary tried a zinger for her plagiarism attack saying “Change you can Xerox” and got booed by the audience. +1 Obama
• The two senators forced the healthcare issue with Obama saying that mandates don’t work (for example in Mass), and Hillary saying without mandates there can be no universal healthcare. +1 Obama (Universal mandates or the penalty of garnished wages won’t work. Obama’s plan is mandated for children and aimed at affordability for all others.)
• Hillary reprimanded McCain on the Iraq war, Obama reminded her that she voted for it. +1 Obama
• Obama says he will meet with our enemies in the first year without preconditions, Hillary says she will meet, but not in the first year and with preconditions. +1 Hillary (Only for first year new President, other priorities.)
• Hillary says she is ready on day 1. Obama says he has the right judgement on day 1. +1 Obama

Obama has clearly improved at debating, so Clinton didn’t gain the ground she expected. Jeffrey Toobin, Senior Analyst at CNN said,

“Obama seemed more presidential. He is looking beyond Hillary Clinton at this point, thinking about John McCain, and is just more comfortable.

Hillary Clinton got reflective and said the following in response to a question about her own life, which made her seem soft and compassionate again: +1 Hillary