Clove
04-07-2008, 03:26 PM
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/07/hillaryclinton.uselections20082
Elana Schor in Washington guardian.co.uk, Monday April 7 2008 Article historyAbout this articleClose This article was first published on guardian.co.uk on Monday April 07 2008. It was last updated at 18:31 on April 07 2008.
Why did Mark Penn have to go?
The abrupt exit of Hillary Clinton's chief strategist yesterday came after a series of reports on personality clashes within her campaign. But what ultimately sealed Mark Penn's doom was a meeting he took with the Colombian ambassador to the US to promote a free trade agreement with the South American nation.
Penn's lobbying firm, Burson-Marsteller, had a $300,000 contract with Bogota to help win the US Congress' approval of the trade deal. Businesses are eager to lower tariffs on exported goods to Colombia, particularly in the midst of a recession, but working-class voters – the core of the Democratic party – are strongly opposed to the trade deal.
Clinton is promising workers in Pennsylvania, where the next make-or-break primary occurs in two weeks, that she will help them recover from the demoralising job losses wrought by past free trade pacts.
When her top adviser was caught out promoting a trade agreement that Clinton tells voters she wants no part of, the risk of looking dishonest to the voters was too great. Penn had to step aside.
Why do Democrats dislike free trade deals so much?
The Colombian agreement was particularly objectionable to US liberals because of violence against unionists. More than 2,000 labour leaders have been killed since 1991, with nearly 475 dying since Alvaro Uribe was elected president in 2002.
Uribe contends that unions in his country have been infiltrated by terrorist groups, and Republicans have backed him up. The Colombian president remains a staunch ally of George Bush in a region increasingly influenced by left-wing Hugo Chavez of Venezuela.
Trade agreements have become anathema to Democrats since the Clinton administration pushed a North American pact in 1994 that gradually decimated the US manufacturing sector. As more businesses moved their operations to Mexico, workers in Midwestern states such as Pennsylvania and Ohio were left jobless – and blaming free trade for their troubles.
Not every trade pact has caused the stir that Colombia's has. Both Clinton and Obama backed a similar agreement with Peru last year, although Clinton declared her distaste in advance for upcoming deals with Panama and South Korea.
So does this mean the Colombia trade deal is dead?
Not at all. Bush formally sent the agreement to Congress today. That gives Democratic leaders 90 days to approve or reject it without the possibility of making changes.
The vote is certain to be close, with most Republicans favouring the trade pact as a reward to Uribe. Despite Penn's lobbying, Clinton is expected to join Obama in voting against the deal.
Does Obama or McCain have a lobbyist advising them?
Even as Penn insisted on remaining at Burson-Marsteller while working for Clinton, one of his Republican colleagues has taken the opposite approach.
Conservative Charlie Black chaired a subsidiary of Penn's firm, but left the company several weeks ago to focus full-time on the McCain campaign. Several other top McCain advisers have long histories of lobbying for corporate interests.
Obama has touted his campaign as free from lobbyist influence, going so far as to return donation cheques written by registered lobbyists. But Obama continues to take in millions of dollars from companies that employ lobbying firms, leading political analysts to question his claim to immunity from special interests.
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If Hillary is so concerned about jobs, howcome she's firing people? Lolzers.
Elana Schor in Washington guardian.co.uk, Monday April 7 2008 Article historyAbout this articleClose This article was first published on guardian.co.uk on Monday April 07 2008. It was last updated at 18:31 on April 07 2008.
Why did Mark Penn have to go?
The abrupt exit of Hillary Clinton's chief strategist yesterday came after a series of reports on personality clashes within her campaign. But what ultimately sealed Mark Penn's doom was a meeting he took with the Colombian ambassador to the US to promote a free trade agreement with the South American nation.
Penn's lobbying firm, Burson-Marsteller, had a $300,000 contract with Bogota to help win the US Congress' approval of the trade deal. Businesses are eager to lower tariffs on exported goods to Colombia, particularly in the midst of a recession, but working-class voters – the core of the Democratic party – are strongly opposed to the trade deal.
Clinton is promising workers in Pennsylvania, where the next make-or-break primary occurs in two weeks, that she will help them recover from the demoralising job losses wrought by past free trade pacts.
When her top adviser was caught out promoting a trade agreement that Clinton tells voters she wants no part of, the risk of looking dishonest to the voters was too great. Penn had to step aside.
Why do Democrats dislike free trade deals so much?
The Colombian agreement was particularly objectionable to US liberals because of violence against unionists. More than 2,000 labour leaders have been killed since 1991, with nearly 475 dying since Alvaro Uribe was elected president in 2002.
Uribe contends that unions in his country have been infiltrated by terrorist groups, and Republicans have backed him up. The Colombian president remains a staunch ally of George Bush in a region increasingly influenced by left-wing Hugo Chavez of Venezuela.
Trade agreements have become anathema to Democrats since the Clinton administration pushed a North American pact in 1994 that gradually decimated the US manufacturing sector. As more businesses moved their operations to Mexico, workers in Midwestern states such as Pennsylvania and Ohio were left jobless – and blaming free trade for their troubles.
Not every trade pact has caused the stir that Colombia's has. Both Clinton and Obama backed a similar agreement with Peru last year, although Clinton declared her distaste in advance for upcoming deals with Panama and South Korea.
So does this mean the Colombia trade deal is dead?
Not at all. Bush formally sent the agreement to Congress today. That gives Democratic leaders 90 days to approve or reject it without the possibility of making changes.
The vote is certain to be close, with most Republicans favouring the trade pact as a reward to Uribe. Despite Penn's lobbying, Clinton is expected to join Obama in voting against the deal.
Does Obama or McCain have a lobbyist advising them?
Even as Penn insisted on remaining at Burson-Marsteller while working for Clinton, one of his Republican colleagues has taken the opposite approach.
Conservative Charlie Black chaired a subsidiary of Penn's firm, but left the company several weeks ago to focus full-time on the McCain campaign. Several other top McCain advisers have long histories of lobbying for corporate interests.
Obama has touted his campaign as free from lobbyist influence, going so far as to return donation cheques written by registered lobbyists. But Obama continues to take in millions of dollars from companies that employ lobbying firms, leading political analysts to question his claim to immunity from special interests.
--
If Hillary is so concerned about jobs, howcome she's firing people? Lolzers.