McCain's Long Strange Trip South of the Border

The McCain campaign gets ... stranger.

The American economy has been battered on multiple fronts, including the loss of 3.4 million manufacturing jobs. The current trade strategy has not only contributed to the offshoring of jobs, but helped harm the lives of workers abroad. NAFTA in particular has disrupted the agricultural economy in Mexico, displacing peasant labor and driving illegal immigration. [1] Even the pro-NAFTA Heritage Foundation concedes that stark inequality still plagues Mexico. [2]

In turn, public anger with trade agreements written by and for multinationals, protecting the interests of corporations but not workers, is on the rise. [3]

And McCain decides to campaign ... across the border [4], where the jobs are being sent.

And he releases a new ad [5], standing by the delusion that the current strategy is creating good jobs for everyone.

MCCAIN: To fuel our economy, we must create more jobs for Americans and for our neighbors to the south. With better jobs, more of them will be able to stay in their country.

We can't go back on our word on free trade promises with Mexico, Canada, Central America or anyone else. We must encourage more trade agreements to create more jobs on both sides of the border. That's why I'm behind the Colombian Free Trade Agreement.

These were the same arguments made 15 years ago to get NAFTA passed. And yes, for our own economy's sake, we must support our neighbors so they will have healthy economies too.

But NAFTA didn't work. Period.

To not even acknowledge that, when it's quite clear to American workers hurting from the impact, is simply strange

To haul out the same musty arguments, and ignore the lessons from what has failed in the past, is only evidence of being out-of-touch with what's going in America and the world today.

This is not a question of trade vs. no trade. There will always be trade.

This is not a question of free trade vs. protectionism. There is no such thing as free trade. Trade agreements like NAFTA are chock full of trade rules, just rules slanting the economic playing field towards multinational corporations.

This is a question about what makes a smart global economic strategy [6] -- with fair trade rules, strong labor and environment standards and forward-thinking public investment -- so workers in America and across the globe will thrive in a changing world.