Stories related to: NAFTA

Score this week for John McCain, writes Mark Halperin in Time . "McCain's week wasn't particularly good, but Obama's was dreadful by comparison." Here’s how it adds up: Image: McCain’s goal is to make Obama look “like an ordinary politician.” Barack helped with one of his “most off-message weeks,” says Halperin, citing campaign finance, NAFTA, and a flap over head scarves. Advantage: McCain. Iraq: The war has always been Obama's ace in the hole, but “favorable reporting” on surge success from major papers “may neutralize the issue.” Advantage: McCain. More »

Ian Brodie, chief of staff to Canada's prime minister and the key figure in the "NAFTA-gate" scandal, will step down by summer, the Globe and Mail reports. Brodie, the architect of the Conservative Party's victory in 2006 elections, is under investigation in leaks that clouded the Democratic primary in Ohio in March. More »

Obama likened Hillary's stance on Iran to George Bush's "cowboy diplomacy" on Meet the Press today, while Clinton took to ABC to defend the gas tax and told voters mired in the Jeremiah Wright controversy "We should move on." Tim Russert ignored her advice, however, and devoted his first 18 minutes to the pastor, reports the New York Times . “Obviously, it’s distracted us,” Obama admitted. More »

President Bush yesterday opened a two-day economic summit in New Orleans with Mexico and Canada amid growing hostility to the North American Free Trade Agreement, which is widely blamed for US job losses. Bush is using the meeting with the trillion-dollar trading partners to highlight support for NAFTA as the 14-year-pact is repeatedly roasted on the Democratic campaign trail. More »

The scope of the Barack Obama NAFTA memo scandal widened again yesterday, with Canadian opposition legislators calling for the resignation of Canada's ambassador to the US after he was implicated, the Globe and Mail reports. Michael Wilson admitted speaking to the reporter who broke the story that the candidate was voicing opposition to the trade agreement merely for political purposes. More »

Amid cross-party outcry, the prime minister of Canada says he'll expand an investigation into the NAFTA leak that may have contributed to Barack Obama's loss in Ohio, reports the Globe and Mail . The opposition is calling for the head of Ian Brodie, PM Stephen Harper's chief of staff, who is reported to have leaked the memo that said Obama's campaign against the trade agreement was only "political positioning." More »

A memo leaked by Canadian diplomats was "regrettable," the US ambassador to Ottawa said today, but not, as he hinted earlier, "interference" in America's electoral process, Reuters reports. The document detailed a meeting between Canadian officials and a member of Barack Obama's campaign, who said Obama wasn't as opposed to NAFTA as his rhetoric indicated. More »

One day after a grueling press conference, Barack Obama told reporters they were buying into flimsy grievances about media bias, the New York Times reports. “I am a little surprised that all the complaining about the refs has worked,” he said of the Clinton camp's gripes. Indeed, journalists are rethinking the fairness of their coverage, and Greg Sargent of Talking Points Memo says reporting on Clinton "has often been unfair on a very fundamental level." More »

March 4 has been a long time coming, and now political writers can’t be bothered to wait until the polls close in Ohio and Texas. Three early takes on today’s results: Josh Marshall sees a late-in-the-game turn in Hillary Clinton’s favor, and expects “minor or major crowing” from her camp tonight. Barack Obama's aura has become so bright that Clinton may come out with a net delegate loss and still get “a major shot in the arm.” More »

Hillary Clinton hammered Barack Obama today over reports that his chief economic adviser privately told Canadian officials anti-Nafta talk was “more about political positioning than a clear articulation of policy.” The simmering story lurched forward today when the AP obtained the Canadian memo, reports Talking Points Memo. Obama's aide called the memo “a pretty ham-handed description of what I answered.” More »

As Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama battle for votes in Ohio, each pushes a simple theme: NAFTA is bad. Ohio has been hit hard by free trade, which is why Obama reminds voters that Bill Clinton backed NAFTA. And both hopefuls have mined each other's comments for anything that favors global trade, the Christian Science Monitor reports. More »

A week before the make-or-break primaries in Texas and Ohio, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama  sparred wearily, sometimes testily, in their 20th and perhaps last debate, on issues from health care to Iraq to who is more committed to Israel, MSNBC reports. Clinton blasted a recent Obama mailer that said her health plan would force lower-income Americans to buy health care; Obama defended the flier and derided her complaint, saying she has "constantly" attacked his campaign but "we haven't whined about it." More »

Hillary Clinton's staunchest allies include Hispanic and working-class voters, and those are exactly the assets Barack Obama is targeting in the must-win states of Ohio and Texas, the Los Angeles Times reports. He's using young voters as a wedge: In a radio ad aimed at young Latino Texans, the announcer says “Obama is talking to me.” More »

Mexican President Felipe Calderon expects the next US administration to bring a “broader and more comprehensive view” to immigration, providing immigrants a path to legalization, he told the Los Angeles Times . For Calderon, Super Tuesday was heartening. “The most radical and anti-immigrant candidates have been left behind,” he said. They’ve been “put in their place by their own electorate.” More »

Taco Bell is acting on its own long-standing imperative to run for the border, but as it re-enters Mexico, it’s not trying to pass as traditional—instead maxing out its American identity. The restaurant has its first Mexican branch since a failed 1990s incursion, but adding french fries to the menu hasn’t fended off early insults, the Canadian Press reports. More »

Teamsters are protesting the launch this week of a program allowing Mexican trucks to travel anywhere in the US, rather than just 20 miles inside the border. Union officials argue that Mexican trucks aren't safe because they're subject to different environmental and inspection standards, and that regulations regarding shifts and drug use will be difficult to enforce. More »

Even though he can’t expect broad endorsement, John Edwards is pushing hard for labor support, hoping to rack up the backing of a slew of individual unions. The Washington Post reports ahead of tonight’s AFL-CIO-sponsored Democratic forum that union backing is key to the Southerner’s strategy, even though a collective federation endorsement—which takes a two-thirds vote—is highly unlikely. More »