2008 Woodie Awards
Clinton household split on free trade with Columbia
By: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Issue date: 4/9/08 Section: Nation
WASHINGTON - The presidential campaign of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said yesterday that her husband, the former president, supports a free trade agreement with Colombia that his wife strenuously opposes.
The acknowledgment adds new hurdles to the New York senator's bid to woo Democratic voters in Pennsylvania and elsewhere who believe free trade agreements have eliminated thousands of U.S. jobs. On Sunday, she demoted her chief campaign strategist for his role in promoting the Colombia pact.
Hillary Clinton told union activists yesterday she would do everything in her power to defeat the Colombia Free Trade Agreement now before Congress.
Her campaign spokesman, Jay Carson, said in response to a query from The Associated Press that the senator's opposition is "clear and firm." He added: "Like other married couples who disagree on issues from time to time, she disagrees with her husband on this issue. President Clinton has been public about his support for Colombia's request for U.S. trade preferences since 2000."
Bill Clinton has been his wife's most prominent campaign surrogate and advocate for months.
A high point of his presidency was passage of the North America Free Trade Agreement, which his wife now criticizes at virtually every campaign stop. White House records show that Hillary Clinton, as first lady, attended several meetings designed to build congressional support for NAFTA in the early 1990s. She says she had reservations about the pact at the time, and made her feelings known in such gatherings.
Speaking about the Colombia trade deal yesterday to a Washington meeting of the Communication Workers of America, she said: "As I have said for months, I oppose the deal, I have spoken out against the deal, I will vote against the deal and I will do everything I can to urge the Congress to reject the Colombia free trade agreement."
On Sunday, Mark Penn left his post as top strategist for Clinton's presidential campaign after it was reported he had met with Colombia's ambassador to the United States to discuss passage of the agreement. Colombia was a client of Penn's large public relations firm, Burson-Marsteller.
The acknowledgment adds new hurdles to the New York senator's bid to woo Democratic voters in Pennsylvania and elsewhere who believe free trade agreements have eliminated thousands of U.S. jobs. On Sunday, she demoted her chief campaign strategist for his role in promoting the Colombia pact.
Hillary Clinton told union activists yesterday she would do everything in her power to defeat the Colombia Free Trade Agreement now before Congress.
Her campaign spokesman, Jay Carson, said in response to a query from The Associated Press that the senator's opposition is "clear and firm." He added: "Like other married couples who disagree on issues from time to time, she disagrees with her husband on this issue. President Clinton has been public about his support for Colombia's request for U.S. trade preferences since 2000."
Bill Clinton has been his wife's most prominent campaign surrogate and advocate for months.
A high point of his presidency was passage of the North America Free Trade Agreement, which his wife now criticizes at virtually every campaign stop. White House records show that Hillary Clinton, as first lady, attended several meetings designed to build congressional support for NAFTA in the early 1990s. She says she had reservations about the pact at the time, and made her feelings known in such gatherings.
Speaking about the Colombia trade deal yesterday to a Washington meeting of the Communication Workers of America, she said: "As I have said for months, I oppose the deal, I have spoken out against the deal, I will vote against the deal and I will do everything I can to urge the Congress to reject the Colombia free trade agreement."
On Sunday, Mark Penn left his post as top strategist for Clinton's presidential campaign after it was reported he had met with Colombia's ambassador to the United States to discuss passage of the agreement. Colombia was a client of Penn's large public relations firm, Burson-Marsteller.
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