"American Workers Can't Afford Barack Obama"
Hillary Clinton grabbed some weekend headlines when she waved an Obama campaign mailer that attacked her health care plan and NAFTA record and accused the now-frontrunner of "Karl Rove" tactics.
"Shame on you, Barack Obama," Mrs. Clinton said at a news conference after a morning rally, holding the fliers and shaking them in the air as she spoke. "It is time you ran a campaign consistent with your messages in public. That's what I expect from you. Meet me in Ohio. Let's have a debate about your tactics and your behavior in this campaign."
If you suspected that the "valedictory" handshake at the Texas debate was a ruse, congratulations! Clinton's taking the high road by attacking Obama for being a scary free trader.
He said the United States benefits from exports! He praised the WTO and NAFTA! And check out this damning Obama quote:
The simple fact is, nations with free-market systems do better. Look around the globe: Those nations which have lowered trade barriers are prospering more than those that have not.
I'm kidding, of course. That wasn't Obama: It was Hillary Clinton in 1997, year 24 of her "35 years of experience making change."
We can expect an avalanche of trade pandering in tomorrow's Ohio debate, but I'm increasingly sympathetic to Obama on this stuff. Clinton can either bask in the glow of her husband's administration or she can reject its unholy works: Claiming she was for all the stuff that Democrats like and against all the stuff that Democrats don't is ridiculous.