It’s not as dramatic as the questioning of Petraeus, but Team Clinton is having fun saying “we’ll see your adviser who gets the candidate in trouble on trade, and raise you”:
Clinton Campaign Invites Obama Campaign to Add Austan Goolsbee to Indiana Call TODAY
Despite launching negative attacks about Clinton campaign and labor, Obama campaign has yet to explain repeated misstatements on Goolsbee’s conversations with Canadian government
Does the campaign think Goolsbee – who told the Canadians that Obama will keep NAFTA – should stay on the campaign?
“The Obama campaign ought to have Austan Goolsbee on their call today,” Clinton Indiana state director Robby Mook said. “While Senator Obama was telling voters he would fix NAFTA, his chief economics advisor was telling Canadians that his position was just words. Instead of launching attacks against others, the Obama campaign should finally explain why it continues to mislead voters about Mr. Goolsbee’s meeting with the Canadian government.”
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The Obama campaign offered at least five different, and frequently contradictory explanations, of Goolsbee’s meeting with the Canadian government. According to a memo produced by the Canadian government, Goolsbee told the Canadians not take Obama’s anti-NAFTA rhetoric seriously because it was merely “political positioning.”
5. 3/10/08 – Sen. Obama: The meeting did happen, they did discuss NAFTA, but advisor just said Obama wanted to make NAFTA ‘stronger for U.S. workers.’ “So here’s what happens. You’ve got one of my economic advisors goes and visits a Canadian embassy and they’re asking him questions and he says, ‘Well, Senator Obama isn’t planning to repeal NAFTA, but he wants to amend it to make it stronger for U.S. workers.’ The Canadian embassy writes it up as, ‘Well, maybe Obama is not as tough on NAFTA as you might think.’ And the Clintons start waving this and saying, ‘See? Actually, he’s the one.’” [Mississippi Rally, 3/10/08]
4. 2/29/08: Sen. Obama: ‘It did not happen.’ Anchor: “So, completely inaccurate, did not happen, end of discussion.” Sen. Obama: “It did not happen.” [WKYC TV, 2/29/08]
3. 2/28/08 – Rice: ‘There had been no contact.’ “The Canadian ambassador issued a statement that was absolutely false. There had been no contact. There had been no discussions on NAFTA. So we take the Canadians at their word…period.” [MSNBC, Susan Rice, 2/28/08]