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Home > Blogs > Ohio politics > Archives > 2008 > February > 15 > Entry
Clinton, Obama clash on labor
A Clinton backer from the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers today ridiculed Obama’s endorsement from one of the most powerful labor groups in the nation today, saying the union was endorsing Obama “out of sheer opportunism.”
Rick Sloan, a spokesman for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which has endorsed Clinton, was speaking about Obama receiving the endorsement of the Service Employees International Union, including Ohio’s District 1199, which endorsed Obama formally Friday. He made his comments during a conference call with Ohio Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, a fellow Clinton backer.
The SEIU, Sloan said, “was looking and saying, ‘wow, we’ve got to jump on the bandwagon’” and in doing so were ignoring Clinton’s history of supporting working families.
SEIU District 1199 alone represents 35,000 social service, ehalth care and public sector workers in Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky.
Dave Regan, president of SEIU District 1199, meanwhile, issued a statement calling Obama “a unique candidate, igniting increased energy into the electorate.”
“Sen. Obama has the experience and the vision we need in our next president,” he said.
Also at issue: an Obama campaign mailer to Ohio voters that criticized Clinton’s position on the North American Free Trade Agreement.
During the conference call with Sloan and Fisher, both argued that the mailer misled voters about statements she made about the trade deal, which her husband, former President Bill Clinton, signed into law.
The Obama mailer said he opposes NAFTA, and quotes New York Newsday saying, “Clinton thinks NAFTA has been a boon to the economy.” The Clinton campaign responded by trotting out a Newsday article published Friday where the paper said Clinton didn’t say that. Instead, the paper said the line was used in a 2006 issues chart and the chart was not accurate.
“We do not have a direct quote indicating her campaign told us she thought it was good for the economy at that time,” the paper said. “Also, for that matter, Clinton’s campaign did not contact us to question the item after it appeared in print.”
The paper said Obama’s use of the citation “does strike us as misleading.”
“The quote marks make it look as if Hillary said “boon,” not us. It’s an example of the kind of slim reeds campaigns use to try to win an office. That said, we should have been clearer.”
Sloan, however, was harsher in his critique: the mailer, he said, “almost amounts to mail fraud.”
The Obama campaign responded by reiterating Obama’s distaste for NAFTA, and trotted out a 2003 quote by Clinton where she called NAFTA a victory for her husband. They argued that Clinton - who has said that NAFTA needs to be revisited - has not been strong enough in her criticism of the trade deal.
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