Hillary Clinton has carefully avoided choosing sides in trade debate raging in the nation’s capital, and the Washington Post editorial board is not at all impressed.
“Of all the people who should be standing shoulder to shoulder with Mr. Obama at this moment, none could do more to help him than Hillary Clinton,” the editorial board wrote late Monday, dinging the Democratic presidential candidate for being coy about her position on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a proposed trade deal with countries throughout the Asia Pacific region.
“Instead,” the editorial continued, “Ms. Clinton broke her silence on the issue only long enough to equivocate about it, or, as she did Monday, to expand on the ‘legitimate‘ concerns of opponents of the TPP — and second-guess the president’s strategy.”
The closest that Clinton has come to choosing a side on the trade deal was when she seemingly applauded Democratic-led efforts last week to stall a bill that would have granted the president the authority to “fast track” the TPP through Congress.
“[T]here are some specifics in there that could and should be changed. So I am hoping that’s what happens now — let’s take the lemons and turn it into lemonade,” Clinton said Sunday.
In her brief remarks, the former sectary of state also advised the president to use the gridlock in Congress to push for a better bill. The Post is not at all impressed.
“What this politically unrealistic advice did not include, however, was a simple yes or no to the question of whether Mr. Obama should have the additional bargaining power of trade promotion authority now, as he requests. And that is the question of the hour,” the Post wrote.
The TPP deal, which has been under negotiation since 2005, has the backing of several notable Republicans, including congressional leadership, former Govs. Jeb Bush of Florida and Rick Perry of Texas, and Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida.
On the other side of the debate are progressive groups and key Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, who argue that the deal doesn’t do enough to protect organized labor and the environment.
They are joined in opposition to the bill by conservative talk radio hosts who argue that the TPP is a secret power grab by the president and “establishment” Republicans.
Clinton’s sudden silence on the trade deal comes after years of enthusiastically backing the effort.
“Clinton was one of the leading drivers of the TPP when secretary of state,” CNN reported, citing 45 individual examples of the former first lady’s past support for the trade bill she is now apparently loath to discuss.
