The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has a couple of hilarious press releases.

The first says that trade has been good for Michigan.  The group commits accounting malpractice by telling us only how much Michigan exports, without discussing the other side of the ledger... imports.  And no mention of outsourcing.  Odd.  The full release is below the fold.  I wonder if some people, outside of Michigan, actually believe them.  Oh yeah.  McCain believes it.

The second says that the U.S. Columbia trade agreement "will bring real benefits to American workers, farmers and companies." Its really nice that they are trying to help the farmers, even though farmers are not Chamber members.

The 11-10-93 meeting Hillary Clinton held to push NAFTA.  120 people expected.  Hillary has said she did not agree with NAFTA.  David Gergen, who I do not trust, said she was "unenthusiastic about NAFTA."

But two attendees of the meeting have now spoken.  Unnamed attendees cited by ABC news... and I kind of hate when the press quotes unnamed sources.

Two attendees of that closed-door briefing, neither of whom are affiliated with any campaign, describe that event for ABC News. It was a room full of women involved in international trade. David Gergen served as a sort of master of ceremonies as various women members of the Cabinet talked up NAFTA, which had yet to pass Congress.

"It wasn’t a drop-by it was organized around her participation," said one attendee. "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 a still a question about what Hillary's position when she was First Lady, she was totally supportive of NAFTA.

That first attendee recalls that the First Lady's office in the East Wing put together "the invitation list, who was invited authorizations and all that stuff."

And what is this attendee's response to Clinton today distancing herself from NAFTA? "For people who worked hard to pass NAFTA and who support the importance of markets opening for the economy in the long term, they're very upset. A number of the women who were there are very upset. You need to have some integrity in your position. The Clintons when Bill Clinton was president took a moderate position on trade for Democrats. For her to repudiate that now seems pretty phony."

Recalls a second attendee, "they were looking for women in international trade who supported NAFTA. Senator Clinton came by at the end. And of course she asked for our support and help in passing NAFTA."

Women who attended that event, the second attendee says, have been incredulous to see Clinton distance herself from the trade agreement as she campaigns today. "They're all saying, 'What's this all about?' We all heard it firsthand." She says Clinton isn't being honest with voters today.

I disbelieve any claim Hillary did not support NAFTA.  I would believe it if she said she now sees the NAFTA model as a mistake.

Oh... by the way.  McCain is a wacko free trader. 

This issue is tying them in knots.  What's the matter with ditching the patchwork quilt of NAFTA agreements and just applying our own trade laws?  We are the biggest economy in the world, and those wanting to sell here can just play by our rules.  Those rules... the U.S. trade laws... are really pretty good and fair. 

Obama's campaign released a memo in response to the disclosure of Hillary Clinton's daily White House schedule showing she helped promote NAFTA:

Senator Clinton made her “opposition” to NAFTA a cornerstone of her Ohio campaign.  There was only one problem: she wasn’t telling the truth to Ohio voters.  Misrepresenting your position and carefully parsing your words when you don’t think you’ll get caught are the hallmarks of the kind of politics that Barack Obama is running to change.  That’s the kind of politics that led us into war in Iraq and gave us a tax code that lets those with offshore investments pay a lower tax rate than the average working family in Pennsylvania.  

Clinton responds without addressing the issue of her closed NAFTA meetings at the White House, and without acknowledging her advisor's communications with Canada during the Ohio campaign telling them not to worry about her NAFTA rhetoric:

Once again the Obama campaign is demonstrating that Sen. Obama's words can't be trusted. Last year, Senator Obama said that he would not engage in personal attacks. Now, after losses in Ohio and Texas, the Obama campaign is explicitly attacking Sen. Clinton's character. Instead of attacking Sen. Clinton, Sen. Obama should explain to the American people why his top economic policy adviser was telling the Canadians that his promise to fix NAFTA shouldn't be taken seriously. The fact is that independent accounts make clear that Senator Clinton did not support NAFTA and that she is the candidate Americans can trust to fix it.

I still don't understand what really happened with the Canada/Goolsbee communications. 

Tom Reynolds is retiring.  He ran the Republican National Campaign Committee for the 2006 election, which turned out poorly for his party.  He narrowly beat Jack Davis in 2006, though the district is solidly Republican.  Davis' major campaign theme was to reign in the wacko free traders.  A major RNCC financial scandal occurred on his watch, though it was only recently revealed.

Here are the core political stats for NY-26:

2004 Pres Vote:  Bush 55.17%/Kerry 43.05%

2006 Congressional Vote:  Reynolds 51.98%/Davis 48.02%

Other Dems include Iraq war veteran Jon Powers, who has liberal blogosphere support and institutional Dem support in the area.  Alice Kryzan is an environmental lawyer who - I'm spreading rumor now - I believe worked to defend corporate polluters in the Love Canal case.  I don't believe Powers and Kryzan have much money at this stage.

Jack Davis has money (primarily self-financed), name recognition and an experienced campaign staff.  He is a former Republican and owns all or part of I Squared R Element Company in Akron, NY, a manufacturer of silicon carbide heating elements.  He vigorously promoted sensible trade policies to keep jobs and manufacturing in the U.S., and may be ideologically best suited for this manufacturing district which sits between Buffalo and Rochester.  Though Powers will counter with his military record.  We'll see.