Legs

The story about Barack Obama's staffer meeting with Canadian officials to assure them that Obama didn't really mean what he was saying against NAFTA has achieved that most important thing in politics: the story has legs. The wire services are reporting it and Hillary Clinton is bashing heck out of Obama over it.

TOLEDO, Ohio (AFP) – Hillary Clinton on Monday accused Barack Obama's campaign of savaging a key North America trade pact for political gain, while assuring Canada his attacks were just election-season rhetoric.

A day before key nominating contests in Ohio and Texas which could go a long way to deciding the Democratic White House race, the ex-first lady pounced on a row over the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to frame a new attack.

"It raises questions about Senator Obama coming to Ohio and giving speeches about NAFTA, and having his chief economic advisor tell the Canadian government that it was just political rhetoric," she told reporters here.

Free trade, and NAFTA in particular is a fiercely contentious issue in midwestern Ohio, which has been badly hit by the flight of blue collar jobs abroad, and increased global economic competition.

"I don't think people should come to Ohio and tell the people of Ohio one thing, and then have your campaign tell a foreign government something else behind closed doors," Clinton said.

I may get a surprise from the Ohio results at any rate. This story just might damage Obama in that state. Interesting times, indeed. If Hillary does manage to pull out a win in Ohio and Texas, it could prove bad for Obama – as Michael Goodwin pointed out earlier today. This is just as much his last chance to knock Clinton out as it is her chance to stay in.