Edwards questions Gephardt's labor votes

[Freddie Stubbs]

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Democratic presidential candidate Richard Gephardt says that when it comes to standing up for American jobs, he's the real deal.

At least one of his opponents is saying maybe not.

<snip>

Sen. John Edwards, the North Carolina Democrat who's fighting with Gephardt for the same populist turf, claims that in at least some of those battles, it's Gephardt who was missing in action.
On Tuesday, Edwards' aides pointed to what they term inconsistencies in Gephardt's own trade record.

They note that in 1991, he voted for the so-called fast-track legislation that President George Bush used to negotiate NAFTA with Mexico. In 1998 and 1999, they say, Gephardt voted in favor of an Africa trade-liberalization bill that textile-state representatives opposed. In 2000, Gephardt voted against the legislation that gave normal trade rights to China, but he did not impose party discipline on House Democrats and kept a low profile.


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[genius]

1. Edwards has the second highest AFL-CIO rating of the candidates.

Kucinch is first. But Edwards is a close second. Kerry's third.

[tsipple]

2. Gephardt?

I thought Gephardt had high AFL-CIO ratings?

[genius]

5. He does. He's 88%

Kucinich is 98%
Edwards is 94%
Kerry is 90%
Gephardt is 88%
Lieberman is 81%

These are all good guys when it comes to labor. All will vote with labor over 4/5ths of the time. Kucinich, Edwards and Kerry will do so at least 9/10ths of the time. Kucinich is two points shy of 100%. That really impresses me. But the others are good too.

[sandnsea]

3. Well thanks

I actually thought Gephardt was better on union voting than Kerry. But nobody's voting on any of this stuff anyway. It's a revolution, doncha know.

[AP]

4. Gephardt went after Edwards on this issue recently. It's nice to see

that Edwards has a counterargument that's effective.