Edwards raps Bill Clinton, 'insider' ties
He faulted him and, by extension, Hillary Clinton for links to special interests.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Democratic presidential contender John Edwards yesterday criticized former President Bill Clinton, arguing that he allowed corporate insiders to shape the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement that he said had cost U.S. jobs.
Edwards' complaints about the former president, beloved by voters in his own party, was a move meant to highlight rival Hillary Rodham Clinton's relationship with special interests. It comes two days after Clinton refused Edwards' challenge to stop taking campaign donations from lobbyists, saying many represented good causes.
"It's time that the president stood up and fought for American workers," Edwards told a crowd of about 300 at a union hall in Cedar Rapids. "It's time to have a president that always puts the interests of the American people first."
While Edwards' speech did not mention the name Clinton, the object of his complaint was obvious. Edwards criticized presidential leadership during the 1993 passage of NAFTA, which was started by President George H.W. Bush and pushed through by Clinton. Edwards said the trade agreement among the United States, Mexico and Canada was "written by insiders in all three countries."
Edwards said the policies of President George W. Bush had devastated towns and communities across America, but "this is not just his doing."
"For far too long, presidents from both parties have entered into trade agreements, agreements like NAFTA, promising that they would create millions of new jobs and enrich communities," he said. "Instead, too many of these agreements have cost jobs and devastated towns and communities across this country."
Edwards' remarks come a day before he will share a stage with Hillary Clinton and other Democratic candidates at an AFL-CIO forum in Chicago in which the White House hopefuls will make their appeal to labor.
Hillary Clinton's chief strategist, Mark Penn, issued a memo highlighting polls showing the New York senator leading the Democratic field and offering a ready answer to any rivals.
"She is the candidate of experience and change, a combination no other candidate can match," Penn wrote. "As a result, we will likely see more attacks from her Democratic opponents."
Edwards used the campaign appearance to offer his trade proposals, including a call for freezing imports of any food, toys, medicines or other goods that are harmful.
He said his plan would also require pro-worker provisions in new deals, hold trade partners to their commitments, invest more in dislocated workers and communities, and ensure that imports were safe.
