Will Hillary Clinton Flip on Trade?

[floriduck]

Her prior twists and turns result in her lack of credibility when she sort of takes a position.

"Since officially announcing her candidacy in April, Clinton has managed to avoid the wrath of her party’s left wing — despite Bernie Sanders’ rocketing rise in the New Hampshire and Iowa polls — by opposing the Keystone XL pipeline and aligning herself with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren on student-loan reform. But reacting to the polarizing TPP deal is one of the most excruciating policy decisions of her campaign thus far — and far more politically perilous with Democratic primary voters than her backing of Obama’s Iran deal.
It’s an unwelcome flashback to 2008 when another liberal free-trade skeptic — Obama — pointedly vowed to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement rammed through by her husband in the 1990s."
"Perhaps more than on any other issue, Clinton’s positions on trade illuminate questions that continue to nag at her candidacy: What does she really stand for? Will she go to bat for the party's progressive base? Has she really distanced herself from the shadow of her husband's administration?"


http://www.politico.com/story/2015/10/hillary-clinton-trade-dilemma-214456#ixzz3uPSMrndE

[olddots]

1. not flip

Flop .

[jeff47]

2. Yes. (nt)

[JonLeibowitz]

3. Her powerful cadre of supporters certainly believe so

They even said as much on the record for The Guardian!

On Friday, Clinton was barely distinguishable from Sanders and O’Malley – even denying her hawkish foreign policy reputation by insisting she would be no “more aggressive” a commander-in-chief than Obama.

But many moderates believe she will come around once the primary contest is over, particularly over trade when her opposition to Obama’s Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal is the biggest thorn in the side of pro-business Democrats.

“I’d lie if I said I wasn’t disappointed with the statement that she made on TPP,” says Representative Kind. “Everyone knew where she was on that and where she will be, but given the necessities of the moment and a tough Democratic primary, she felt she needed to go there initially.”

From agreed. “Hillary will bend a little bit, but not so much that she can’t get herself back on course in the general [election] and when she is governing,” he said.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/nov/08/new-democrats-sound-alarm-over-sanders-clinton-leftward-march

[cali]

5. Ding, ding.

[AgingAmerican]

34. "No more aggressive than Obama"

Yet her supporters say TERROR!! will be her main issue...

[cali]

4. Yes. Hill will end up. Pushing the shit out of lousy trade agreements

that largely benefit corporations and investors and hurt working people and the environment.

[ibegurpard]

6. Clinton by the numbers...

$$$$
Is there even a question?

[cosmicone]

7. Oh Joy. Another "Hillary is worse than Pol Pot or Genghis Khan" thread. n/t

[cali]

11. Your post is utterly inane as well as being melodramatic to the max

No one is comparing her to the despots you list or calling her evil. This is about her ambiguous and waffling positions on ftas.

[Bradical79]

14. What were their positions on free trade agreements? -nt

[floriduck]

16. Hysteria Alert. nm

[Doctor_J]

17. Exactly!!11! Hillary favors "free trade" is just like "Hillary is worse than Pol Pot"

Good thing the Hillarians aren't hysterics.

These sorts of posts wouldn't appear if she actually had some principles besides reading polls.

[kenfrequed]

23. Oh joy... more hyperbole

So... any critique of Hillary's economic policy is automatically targetted with defensive and sarcastic hyperbole?

Ridiculous. Learn to craft an actual argument.

[arcane1]

28. It's nothing that can't be fixed by a dishonest chart

[jfern]

42. How dare us peons not agree 100% with Hillary on an important issue?

[Bradical79]

8. I assume so

No reason to assume she won't.

[Autumn]

9. Yes. nt

[leftofcool]

10. Same anti-Hillary meme, different day.

[cali]

13. It's not a meme. This is a policy discussion about Clinton and trade.

[AgingAmerican]

38. Policy is a 'meme' to her supporters

Policy = pony to them

[EndElectoral]

12. She never flips...she evolves....

[Doctor_J]

15. You mean flop?

she already flipped

[kath]

43. it's very very hard to keep track of whether she is on "flip" or on "flop"

[RoccoR5955]

18. Hasn't she already flipped once?

I see no reason why she will not flip again.

[firebrand80]

19. Probably

She obviously believes in free trade. Sanders pulled her to the left on this issue.

[bvar22]

21. No one really believes in "Free Trade".

Obama & Hillary proved it in 2008 during one of the debates when they both stated that NAFTA was not good for Working Americans, and each promised that they would immediately "renegotiate" NAFTA to protect American jobs.
Of course, they were both less than truthful.
In fact, they weren't even making "the least untruthful statements". (Thanks, Clapper)

Free Trade WORKS exactly the way it was designed....to increase the wealth of the already Global Rich by Busting Unions, depressing wages, ending retirement benefits, and end-running Environmental Regulations.

Bill Clinton warned us when he said,
"The American Worker can compete with any worker in the World"...and Democrats cheered, but never really thought about what Bill had said.
Bill promised that the American Worker would be competing with Slave Labor for their jobs, and would work for pennies once their children got hungry enough.

And now, Here we are!

[EndElectoral]

24. Good post. Somehow the word "free" trade appeals to some more than "fair" trade.

[UglyGreed]

31. +100000

[ibegurpard]

33. ouch

Yup

[AgingAmerican]

36. So she is intentionally taking both sides of the issue?

He 'pulled' her away from the right on the issue, like wind does to a weathervane?

[Maedhros]

20. Her ostensible opposition to the TPP is campaign smoke-and-mirrors.

She has no intention of impeding trade agreements in the slightest way, so in that sense I wouldn't say she'll "flip" because her position will have remained constant throughout.

[AzDar]

22. Who knows? She's a LIAR...

[MineralMan]

25. Hillary Clinton will disappoint the same group that was

disappointed in Barack Obama. Immediately after her inauguration, they will begin assailing her as they did Obama. Just as Obama did, she will simply ignore that group and set about to do what she can to make progress in this country.

We will all see it unfold right here, starting the day after the inauguration, I guarantee.

I'd make a list, but it's sort of an obvious one.

[cali]

29. Oh what nonsense.

[ibegurpard]

35. yup

The health insurance corporation protection act, charter schools, corporate trade agreements, strengthening the surveillance state, prosecuting whistleblowers...good stuff!

[Herman4747]

26. She will triangulate to the extent necessary...

...to win next year.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

27. She flips on everything else, so why not?

And then she'll flop back later, when she thinks she doesn't have to appease progressives any more.

[Armstead]

30. No she won't

She has no identifiable position on it now.

[AgingAmerican]

37. She touted the agreement 15 times before she rejected it

The numbers favor what you just said.

[restorefreedom]

32. no, she will maintain

the pro trade position she has always had.

her carefully crafted statement to diane sawyer was not an indication of opposition, so there is nothing to flip on imo

[Pastiche423]

39. A'yup.

[Live and Learn]

40. One never knows what tomorrow may bring. Especially with the flip flop queen. nt

[jfern]

41. She already flip flopped on NAFTA

Of course she will when she doesn't need the votes of worthless peons.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251658816