Did Clinton Explicitly Support NAFTA?

Barack Obama today continues to criticize Hillary Clinton on her efforts to pretend she never supported NAFTA. Just as a follow-up to my column on Friday, I want to remind the folks who are claiming Hillary Clinton never praised NAFTA that, in fact, she did praise NAFTA - repeatedly. What follows is a list of direct quotes from Clinton on NAFTA.

According to NBC's Meet the Press, in 2004, Clinton said, "I think, on balance, NAFTA has been good for New York and America."

The Associated Press reported on 3/6/96 that she said, "NAFTA is proving its worth" and later praising NAFTA as "a free and fair trade agreement."

In her memoir, Clinton trumpeted her husband's "successes on the budget, the Brady bill and NAFTA."

In 1998, Bloomberg News reports that she praised corporations for mounting "a very effective business effort in the U.S. on behalf of NAFTA." Another direct quote.

In a 2002 speech to the Democratic Leadership Council, she said:

"We all know the record of the DLC, the Progressive Policy Institute and, of course, the Clinton-Gore Administration. The economic recovery plan stands first and foremost as a testament to both good ideas and political courage. National service. The Brady Bill. Family Leave. NAFTA. Investment in science and technology. New markets. Charter schools. The Earned Income Tax Credit. The welfare to work partnership. The COPS program. The SAFER program. All of these came out of some very fundamental ideas about what would work. The results speak for themselves. Those ideas were converted into policies programs that literally changed millions of lives and, I argue, changed America."

I went over a two of these quotes - and some more - in my recent syndicated column, which you can read here. And, as predicted, this issue has now become the central focus in the Ohio primary - the primary that could decide the Democratic nomination.

However you feel about NAFTA - and if you are a typical American, polls show you likely do not like it - Clinton now trying to pretend she never really supported NAFTA is really stunning.

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