If you wondered where McCain stands on trade, he has already cleared it up.  I just found it.  "There's no greater free trader in the Senate than I am," says Mr. Straight Talk Express in a March 5, 2007 interview for the National Republic Online:

PONNURU: There’s been a lot of talk after the election that you’ve got all these new populist Democrats who are suspicious of free trade. Is there any way to make further progress with trade liberalization or is that over for the foreseeable future?

SEN. MCCAIN: I’m very worried over about the rising tide of protectionism, which was manifested in the last election. I’m a free trader. Since Phil Graham left, there’s no greater free trader in the Senate than I am. I’m very concerned about protectionism. And one of the aspects of this is we got to try to make sure that the impacts of free trade, which overall are incredibly beneficial, but we’ve got to make sure we try to assist those displaced workers that are affected by the impact of free trade.

By the way, I noticed this morning, a Toyota plant is going to be opening in Mississippi. That was on this morning’s news. You hear about the 13,000 that were laid off at Chrysler, you don’t hear about the 50,000 Americans who now make their living off of eBay.


PONNURU: Insourcing.

SEN. MCCAIN: Exactly.

I study history all the time. Every time the United States has practiced protectionism we’ve paid a very heavy price for it. Some even claim, with some authenticity, that the Smoot-Hawley tariff acts was a major contributor to the outbreak of World War II, not to mention the Great Depression.

Isn't it hard for the Smoot-Hawley Tariff to have caused the Great Depression when the Great Depression started before the law was enacted?  I suppose Hitler would not have invaded Poland if we hadn't enacted the tariff.  And... its ok to hollow out our economy through outsourcing because we can make a living off eBay?  Maybe its just me, but he doesn't make any sense.

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