Obama says one thing, his advisors say something else

[Caro]

So where does Barack Obama really stand on these three issues?

PMO: Officials only got briefing from Obama campaign (The Canadian Press)
OTTAWA — Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton never gave Canada any secret assurances about the future of NAFTA such as those allegedly offered by Barack Obama's campaign, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office said Friday. With the NAFTA affair swirling over the U.S. election and Canadian officials skittish about saying anything else that might influence the race, it took the PMO two days to deliver the information. After being asked whether Canadian officials asked for — or received — any briefings from a Clinton campaign representative outlining her plans on NAFTA, a spokeswoman for the prime minister offered a response Friday. "The answer is no, they did not," said Harper spokeswoman Sandra Buckler.

In the case of the Obama campaign’s briefing, it’s not just an allegation. We have the document prepared afterward: “(Obama senior economic advisor Austan Goolsbee) suggested that of the Democratic candidates, Obama has been the least protectionist (unintelligible). HOM asked whether we could expect to hear more of this as the elections progressed, Goolsbee thought not. In fact, he mentioned that going forward the Obama camp was going to be careful to send the appropriate message without coming off too protectionist.” Judging from the use of the word “unintelligible”, one might think the interview is on tape somewhere. In other words, Obama is dog whistling.

And there are other examples of Obama saying one thing and his advisors saying another. See the next two excerpts, below.

Obama Adviser: I ‘Strongly’ Believe Telecoms ‘Should Be Granted Immunity’
Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) has consistently spoken out and voted against granting retroactive immunity for telecoms that participated with the administration’s warrantless wiretapping program. This stance was part of the reason he won the support of Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), a leader on civil liberties issues. One of Obama’s advisers on intelligence and foreign policy advisers, however, is someone who “strongly” supports telecomm immunity. John Brennan is a former CIA official and the current chairman of the Intelligence and National Security Alliance. In a new National Journal interview, Brennan makes it clear that he agrees with the Bush administration on the issue of immunity.

Power on Obama's Iraq plan: "best case scenario" (Politico)
For all the chatter about Obama adviser Samantha Power's calling Clinton a "monster," another set of remarks made on her book tour in the United Kingdom may be equally threatening to the Obama campaign: Comments in a BBC interview that express a lack of confidence that Obama will be able to carry through his plan to withdraw troops from Iraq within 16 months. "He will, of course, not rely on some plan that he’s crafted as a presidential candidate or a U.S. Senator," she said at one point in the interview.

As the Clinton Fact Hub points out, “Sen. Obama has repeatedly criticized Hillary for not having a ‘firm’ and "clear" withdrawal deadline.” (Thanks to No Quarter.) He did it again Friday, in Wyoming.

Carolyn Kay
MakethemAccountable.com