CTV Names Obama Aide on NAFTA

So, is this a big deal?

… .. The Obama campaign told CTV late Thursday night that no message was passed to the Canadian government that suggests that Obama does not mean what he says about opting out of NAFTA if it is not renegotiated. However, the Obama camp did not respond to repeated questions from CTV on reports that a conversation on this matter was held between Obama’s senior economic adviser — Austan Goolsbee — and the Canadian Consulate General in Chicago. Earlier Thursday, the Obama campaign insisted that no conversations have taken place with any of its senior ranks and representatives of the Canadian government on the NAFTA issue. On Thursday night, CTV spoke with Goolsbee, but he refused to say whether he had such a conversation with the Canadian government office in Chicago. He also said he has been told to direct any questions to the campaign headquarters. … .. Opponents slam Obama after CTV story on NAFTA

Hmmmm…. The Obama campaign ducking press questions. That’s what happened
to me a long time ago, before I went partisan for Clinton. Please direct
any question to the campaign headquarters. In other words, Mr. Goolsbee,
shut up.

Don’t you just hate when journalists do their job? It can be such a drag for
old style Chicago political campaigns like Obama’s trying to look like a different
kind of politics.

Now no one is surprised to have Mr. Goolsbee possibly talking to Canada. Trying to hide that fact once the story is out is another matter. However,
the problem really comes in when Obama is obviously telling Ohio voters one thing to
get their votes, while his econ guy is assuring a NAFTA partner that nothing
is going to change if he gets into the White House.

Truth is that NAFTA isn’t going to be easy to modify, whether it’s Clinton
or Obama in the White House. But the bait and switch politics, in which Obama
seems obviously engaged, is not the image he’s running on. It’s not the message
either, and now Obama’s campaign team is stiff arming journalists who want to ask questions about what’s unwinding to try to find out the truth.

Who knows, maybe this is just a big misunderstanding. The only way to know what’s
going on is for Obama to answer the questions. That his campaign seems unwilling to adds yet another chapter to this story. Not denying the Goolsbee part of the story is the other.