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02 April 2008
Economy Is Biggest Campaign Issue in 2008
Podcast contains campaign updates, examines NAFTA as issue for Democrats
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Voter concern about the economy has become the biggest campaign issue of the 2008 election. As a result, the benefits of foreign trade are being questioned. Today we discuss the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Democratic primary race. But, first, the latest news from the campaign trail.
• Illinois Senator Barack Obama delivered a major speech on race and religion in America in the city of Philadelphia. The senator’s speech has generated intense media interest. His comments addressed, some say in an honest and forceful way, two issues that continue to be major factors in America social development.
• Presumed Republican nominee John McCain made an unannounced trip to Iraq with other congressional leaders for what was called a fact-finding trip. Although McCain denies it, some political experts suggest McCain made the trip to highlight his foreign policy experience in the campaign. It was his eighth visit to the country.
• Senators McCain, Obama and Clinton were all in Washington recently to participate in votes on tax cuts and spending. It was the first time in more than a month that all three were in the Senate chamber. With uncertainty surrounding the economy, taxes is one of the issues often debated on the campaign trail. Obama and Clinton want to reverse tax cuts passed by President Bush, while McCain has suggested making them permanent.
The world's largest trading partnership is under criticism from the two remaining Democratic presidential candidates. President Bush, normally silent on the campaign issues, recently made comments on foreign trade. The president sought to explain the difference between campaign rhetoric and public policy in order to calm trading partners and clarify U.S. intentions when it comes to trade.
A main issue is the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA. Recent campaign speeches from Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, the leading Democratic candidates, have not endorsed withdrawing from NAFTA. But the candidates have made comments that the deal should be “renegotiated” or that it “has not been good for Americans.”
American response to NAFTA is not the same everywhere. Opinions tend to reflect how the trade agreement has affected a certain region. NAFTA critics have argued that high-paying jobs have gone to Mexico and Canada, with little help going to the American worker.
Clinton and Obama made their strongest arguments on NAFTA in Ohio, an important state where many blame NAFTA for robbing the state of jobs, weakening the middle class, and increasing income inequality.
Bush commented that NAFTA has created prosperity on both sides of the borders. Trade specialists see NAFTA as a target of domestic economic criticism not justified in economic terms.
This podcast is produced by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of International Information Programs. Links to other Internet sites or opinions expressed should not be considered an endorsement of other content and views.
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(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
