Clinton's NAFTA retreat

NY Post Editorial:

It's hardly news that Hillary Rodham Clinton has a credibility problem.

The long-delayed release of her schedule as first lady offers another example.

To wit: Sen. Clinton won the Ohio primary in part by convincing voters that she privately opposed NAFTA's passage, even as the Clinton administration championed it.

Yet a look through the more than 11,000 pages of the first lady's schedule doesn't show Clinton ferociously working against NAFTA.

Actually, it suggests just the opposite.

Clinton spoke at a luncheon in November 1993 - just before Congress was to vote on the trade agreement. She forcefully urged a room full of businesswomen to work for its passage.

One attendee told ABC News: "Her remarks were totally pro-NAFTA and what a good thing it would be for the economy. There was no equivocation for her support for NAFTA at the time. Folks were pleased that she came by. If this is still a question about what Hillary's position was when she was first lady, she was totally supportive of NAFTA."

Furthermore, the participant recalls that this event was organized by the first lady's office, suggesting that it wasn't likely that Mrs. Clinton simply attended as an emissary of her husband.

...

Clinton would have been better off in the long run defending NAFTA since it has benefited not only the country but Ohio. Both candidate's NAFTA stand involved shameful demagoguery for the benefit of some special interests in Ohio. Since they left the state they have gone completely silent on the subject which is an admission of some sort.