Authenticity

March 5, 2008

Obama’s relatively poor showing in Ohio (compared to his last week of poll numbers, not the last six months of poll numbers) seems to be attributable in part to the controversy over his position on NAFTA. To sum up, Obama’s senior economic adviser Austan Goolsbee went to Canada and told them not to worry about Obama’s criticisms of NAFTA, he’s not serious, he’s just spewing rhetoric. Obama denies having sent Goolsbee to make that statement, Goolsbee says what he said was misinterpreted, and the Canadians have said they didn’t mean to imply that Obama was two-faced although it’s hard to see how all three of these things could be true at the same time.

In a month filled with Hillary Clinton’s deeply disappointing arguments and campaign missteps, this kind of thing from the Obama camp is a little embarrassing. But the weird thing is this. A commenter writes to TPM and says people switched from Obama to Clinton in Ohio over the NAFTA issue:

I’m an Ohio native and can tell you that many people I talked to referenced Obama’s ‘double talk’ (their words, not mine) on NAFTA as their reason for switching to Clinton. They said they don’t trust Clinton, but now they don’t trust Obama either. I’ve always wondered what would happen if someone punctured Obama’s aura of integrity and trustworthiness. [ Goolsbee An Expensive Indulgence? ]

On one hand we have Obama, who’s opposed to NAFTA at least publicly and on whom considerable pressure could be brought to bear by his own movement if he strayed from that path. But his position on NAFTA and his “authenticity” are in doubt.

And on the other hand we have Clinton, who’s frequently aligned herself with big business interests, who’s husband fought for NAFTA, and who’s campaign strategist has a reputation for being a union-buster.

And a measurable portion of Ohio voters seem to have changed their minds last-minute, switching from Obama to Clinton, on the basis that if you can’t trust Obama then … what? You vote for the person you can trust to do you harm? Because at least you know where she stands?

I still don’t understand the appeal of the straight-talker.

Posted in Politics