by John McCormick
SAN ANTONIO – On the eve of critical Democratic nominating contests, Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign is being forced to respond today to a growing flap over a recent meeting in Chicago between his senior economic policy adviser and the Canadian government.
In a conference call with reporters that was supposed to focus on delegate math, Obama’s campaign manager was asked numerous questions about Austan Goolsbee, a professor from the University of Chicago who has served as a top adviser on trade, health care and other economic matters.
The latest round of questions follows an Associated Press report today that focused on a Canadian government document that suggested that Goolsbee had told officials that Obama’s rhetoric on opposing the North American Free Trade Act should not be taken too seriously.
NAFTA is widely opposed in economically depressed Ohio, where a critical Democratic primary will be held Tuesday.Both Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton said last week that they would renegotiate the trade agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico, and threaten to pull out if it doesn’t include more protections for workers and the environment.
Obama’s campaign and the Canadian embassy have denied that there is any inconsistency between what Obama has said publicly and what Goolsbee said privately.
Goolsbee, who the Tribune has not been able to reach in recent days, told the AP that the Canadian document presented an inaccurate portrayal of his private discussion on Feb. 8 with Canadian consulate officials in Chicago.
Citing unnamed sources, the meeting was first reported last week by Canadian television network CTV.
The memo, as reported by the AP, said Goolsbee “was frank in saying that the primary campaign has been necessarily domestically focused, particularly in the Midwest, and that much of the rhetoric that may be perceived to be protectionist is more reflective of political maneuvering than policy.”
It went on to say that on the North American Free Trade Agreement, Goolsbee suggested, “Obama is less about fundamentally changing the agreement and more in favour of strengthening/clarifying language on labour mobility and environment and trying to establish these as more ‘core’ principles of the agreement.”
David Plouffe, Obama’s campaign manager, called the Canadian meeting story a “smokescreen” being pushed by the campaign of Sen. Hillary Clinton. “This conversation has been discredited by the Canadian government,” he said.
Calling it “essentially a tour,” Plouffe said the meeting was nothing formal and was “not a discussion about NAFTA.”
Plouffe said Obama believes NAFTA is a “flawed” treaty and that the campaign did not know Goolsbee had even had the meeting until recently. “This is being way overblown,” he said.
The Canadian Embassy issued the following statement today: “The Canadian Embassy and our Consulates General regularly contact those involved in all of the presidential campaigns and, periodically, report on these contacts to interested officials. In the recent report produced by the Consulate General in Chicago, 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. We deeply regret any inference that may have been drawn to that effect.
“The people of the United States are in the process of choosing a new President and are fortunate to have strong and impressive candidates from both political parties. Canada will not interfere in this electoral process. We look forward, however, to working with the choice of the American people in further building an unparalleled relationship with a close friend and partner.”
The expectations game for Tuesday’s contests, meanwhile, is in full stride.
“This is the last big window of opportunity for them,” Plouffe said, as he previewed voting in Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont.
Plouffe stopped short of saying Clinton should drop from the race if she does not win the big prizes of Texas and Ohio. But he also suggested the party would be best served to close the nominating process soon.
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“They keep moving the goalposts, but at some point you run out of field,” he said.
On a morning flight from Chicago to here, Jen Psaki, Obama’s traveling press secretary, was peppered with questions from reporters about what various outcomes would mean for the voting that will soon happen in Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont.
“They said they have to win both, so we are taking them at their word,” Psaki said, referring to Texas and Ohio.
Obama is expected to return Wednesday to Chicago for a few days away from the campaign trail. But his staff is making plans for potential campaigning in Wyoming and Mississippi, the states that next follow the four contests to be held Tuesday.
“Those two states are both strong states for us,” Psaki said.
If Clinton does not withdraw from the race this week, Obama is likely to travel to Wyoming late in the week. That state’s nominating contest is Saturday, while Mississippi’s falls a week from Tuesday.
Obama has yet to start advertising in Wyoming, although he has opened four campaign offices there.
The candidates, campaign workers and reporters are tired from a longer-than-expected nomination season, but Psaki said Obama’s campaign is ready to fight into June – if needed — when the last Democratic nominating contest is scheduled.
“On to Puerto Rico,” she joked.