O Canada! - Was NAFTA-Gate A Clinton Scandal?

The Obama campaign was accused last week of speaking to the Canadian Embassy the U.S. to advise them that Canada should not take seriously Obama's attacks on the North American Free Trade Agreement. At first, Obama and the Canadian government said the story was untrue.

"I can categorically say that no one has contacted our embassy or our ambassador," said Canadian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andre Lemay. "None of our officials at the embassy discussed anything with the runners up in the presidential campaign. We realize that one of the Canadian networks mentioned yesterday that such a call had been made. The report is untrue."

Then came word that a meeting did take place in Chicago with Obama senior economic adviser Austan Goolsbee and Canadian Consul General Georges Rioux. Obama said that Goolsbee had been invited by someone at the consulate to visit and discuss trade."The Canadian Embassy confirmed that he said everything I said on the campaign trail," Obama asserted.

Rumors of Obama being two-faced about NAFTA made headlines and the Clinton campaign took advantage saying that the Obama campaign gave the Canadians "the old wink-wink" and that his hard stance on renegotiating NAFTA was just political rhetoric.

Then the Canadian confirmed that Obama's position was exactly as he stated.

The statement said "there was no intention to convey, in any way, that Senator Obama and his campaign team were taking a different position in public from views expressed in private, including about NAFTA."

Goolsbee said the visit lasted about 40 minutes, and perhaps two to three minutes were spent discussing NAFTA. He said the Canadians asked about Obama's position, and he replied about his interest in improving labor and environmental standards, and they raised some concerns that Obama sounds like a protectionist.

Goolsbee said he responded that Obama is not a protectionist, but that the Illinois senator tries to strike a balance between the economic struggles of working Americans and recognizing that free trade is good for the economy.

"That's a pretty ham-handed description of what I answered," Goolsbee said of the memo's description of "political positioning." "A: In no possible way was that a reference to NAFTA. And B: In no possible way was I inferring that he was going to introduce any policies that you should ignore and he had no intention of enacting. Those are both completely crazy."

Unfortunately, the damage was done and Obama took a hit in Ohio. But now the shoe may be on the other foot.

This from MSNBC:

Per the Toronto Globe and Mail, in a story that was the lead on the paper’s front page today, that call to the Canadian embassy was actually from the Clinton campaign, not Obama’s:

“Mr. [Ian] Brodie, [PM Harper’s chief of staff], during the media lockup for the Feb. 26 budget, stopped to chat with several journalists, and was surrounded by a group from CTV. The conversation turned to the pledges to renegotiate the North American free-trade agreement made by the two Democratic contenders, Mr. Obama and New York Senator Hillary Clinton.

“Mr. Brodie, apparently seeking to play down the potential impact on Canada, told the reporters the threat was not serious, and that someone from Ms. Clinton's campaign had even contacted Canadian diplomats to tell them not to worry because the NAFTA threats were mostly political posturing. The Canadian Press cited an unnamed source last night as saying that several people overheard the remark.

“The news agency quoted that source as saying that Mr. Brodie said that someone from Ms. Clinton's campaign called and was ‘telling the embassy to take it with a grain of salt.’

“The story was followed by CTV's Washington bureau chief, Tom Clark, who reported that the Obama campaign, not the Clinton's, had reassured Canadian diplomats.

“Mr. Clark cited unnamed Canadian sources in his initial report. There was no explanation last night for why Mr. Brodie was said to have referred to the Clinton campaign but the news report was about the Obama campaign.”

*** UPDATE *** The Clinton campaign responds: "Unlike the Obama campaign, we can and do flatly deny this report and urge the Canadian government to reveal the name of anyone they think they heard from. The Obama campaign has given a variety of misleading answers to the press and the public about its top economic adviser’s contacts with the Canadian government and should come clean about why they did so," writes campaign spokesman Phil Singer.

The lady doth protest too much, methinks. Seems like a little projection and transference, no? Trying to switch this around on Obama after the Canadian government confirmed the Obama campaign's account is suspect. I wonder if the Clinton camp got some shards of porcelain in their eyes when the kitchen sink they threw shattered. This thing isn't over by a long shot.