Uh-oh. Clinton’s interview with Karen raises several red flags.
1. NAFTA–“We inherited it.” Oh, come on. Now, if I remember correctly, Hillary was opposed to the President spending political capital on NAFTA passage in September of 1993–she wanted him to devote all his energy to her health insurance plan. So an argument can be made that she never was a passionate free trader. But Bill Clinton was. Some of his finest, most courageous moments came when he went directly to union halls in 1992 and explained why he was for NAFTA.
There’s going to be a lot said about trade in this campaign, much of it nonsense. The biggest, most unfair lie, though, is that the United States can unilaterally repeal the global economic system–that we can somehow prevent the steady leaching away of low-skill manufacturing jobs to countries with lower wages. The implication that the inclusion of environmental and labor standards will somehow modify the tectonic shifts going on is a cruel hoax.
2. Health….Nothing more than goals? My guess is that Clinton is misreading the zeitgeist and will have to produce a full-blown universal health insurance plan if she hopes to win the nomination.