Via the Associated Press, Nedra Pickler reports that Barack Obama’s senior economic policy adviser, Austan Goolsbee, has broken his silence to claim that Canadian government officials wrote an inaccurate portrayal of his private discussion on the campaign’s trade policy:
Goolsbee disputed a section that read: “Noting anxiety among many U.S. domestic audiences about the U.S. economic outlook, Goolsbee candidly acknowledged the protectionist sentiment that has emerged, particularly in the Midwest, during the primary campaign. He cautioned that this messaging should not be taken out of context and should be viewed as more about political positioning than a clear articulation of policy plans.”
“This thing about `it’s more about political positioning than a clear articulation of policy plans,’ that’s this guy’s language,” Goolsbee said of (Canadianian counsulate employee Joseph) DeMora. “He’s not quoting me.
***
He said he has been surprised that such a banal and trivial meeting with a low-level consulate official has created so much controversy and resulted in such an inaccurate depiction…
Prof. Goolsbee, welcome to the world of global politics, which is every bit as bare-knuckled as the faculty politics at the U of Chicago.ÂÂ
First, Goolsbee’s complaint that the memo is not directly quoting him does not change the fact that diplomatic staff generally have an interest in accurately reporting what he said. Second, someone acting as a senior advisor of a leading candidate for the presidency should recognize the risk that a casual comment may be misinterpreted. Third, Goolsbee had to be aware that the Candaians are aware of the context in which he made the statement, as noted here at PW before this kerfuffle unfolded:
(I)f Goolsbee has Obama’s ear on trade, the candidate has not given much indication of it. He issued a statement supportive of the agreement with Peru, but skipped the vote. He told the Wisconsin Fair Trade Coalition that he opposes not only the South Korea trade agreement, but also the Colombia and Panama accords. Obama is telling suffering Americans that globalization is to blame for their plight.
Goolsbee should not be shocked to discover that the Canadians are interpreting Obama’s comments about NAFTA in the larger context of Obama’s current positions on a variety of trade agreements — and leaking Goolsbee’s comments in an attempt to get Camp Obama to be a little more nuanced in its rhetoric.
Update: TNR’s Noam Schieber — whose original piece on Obama’s advisors sparked my original piece mentioning Goolsbee — is whining that the story seems to be gaining traction and may hurt Obama’s chances in Ohio. However, as Ed Morrissey puts it at Hot Air:
Team Obama wants people to think that their candidate represents a new kind of politics. Instead, we see the same lies and obfuscations that Barack Obama likes to accuse others of indulging. They got caught talking out of both sides of their mouths, and after that they tried stonewalling and lying to make the story go away.
I would add that Obama’s double-talk on NAFTA before the Goolsbee flap almost ensured that this sort of karma would come due sooner or later.
Comment by MayBee on 3/3 @ 12:56 pm #
“We did not speak to the Canadian government and tell them to disregard our NAFTA pandering”
“We did not speak to any Senior Canadian officals and tell the to disregard our NAFTA pandering”
“We did call to tell them ‘hello’, but have no comment as to whether we told them to disregard our NAFTA pandering”
“Well…we didn’t exactly say the words he says we did. But you know, he’s a really low level guy.”
“Plus, Hillary called NAFTA a ‘victory’. We would never say that (out loud). (To Americans)”
Comment by happyfeet on 3/3 @ 1:00 pm #
What does that even mean with respect to Canada anyway? They’re not exactly environmentally complacent. Maybe the story is more that Goolsbee’s message to Canada was like hey we don’t mean you guys, just the dirty Mexicans.
That seems odd with respect to Canada. I think prolly their biggest environmental problems are oil sands related.
Comment by B Moe on 3/3 @ 2:13 pm #
I think environment is referring to labor, hf. As in “we would rather those Mexican manufacturing jobs be performed in a more American environment.”
Comment by Ric Locke on 3/3 @ 2:51 pm #
B Moe — or, as the Union guys so quaintly put it, “Fuck you, Paydro, git back in yer ditch, I got SUV payments t’make.”
Regards,
Ric
Comment by JD on 3/3 @ 5:59 pm #
One would think that this overt duplicity by the Oabamorons would be highlighted by Hill/Bill and the meda. Sadly, no.
Pingback by Dems 2008: Who dared to question the Obamessiah? [Karl] on 3/4 @ 6:27 am #
[...] press conference once it became clear that the assembled reporters wanted to ask about the Goolsbee flap and the Rezko trial, instead of hopeyness and changitude. Or you may have seen the [...]
Pingback by Dems 2008: The sucking sound keeps getting louder [Karl] on 3/6 @ 1:08 pm #
[...] Yglesias is wrong to the extent that Goolsbee has admitted the meeting at the Canadian consulate in Chicago, but claims his views were misquoted in one [...]
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