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McAuliffe Opens Mouth, Removes Foot

Associated Press

Virginia’s governor ignited a small firestorm at the Democratic National Convention when he told a reporter that Hillary Clinton would support the Trans Pacific Trade agreement (TPP). Terry McAuliffe said Clinton would insist on some changes to address the concerns of supporters of Bernie Sanders, but she had earlier said she’d oppose the deal.

Governor McAuliffe backtracked, saying he personally supports TPP and hopes Clinton will too, but that didn’t appease Virginia delegates pledged to Sanders. We spoke with Chris Fury of Roanoke and Ruth Ross of Grayso County.

“It takes away a lot of the protections that we have in the United States on our food products. Laws that we enforce here in the United States can’t really be enforced on products elsewhere. It’s human rights issues, things of that nature. It would be bad for the environment. It would be bad for American workers. I’m from far southwest Virginia. Our population has much higher unemployment than other parts of the state and we really need jobs to stay here in this country for our citizens.”

McAuliffe showed up at a breakfast briefing for delegates surrounded by a security detail and declined to speak with reporters, but his fellow Democrat, Virginia Senator Mark Warner, spoke up for the TPP, saying it was this country’s best chance to get a grip on China.

“Right now we have a huge imbalance of trade with China. China has been doing dumping of steel on our markets, currency manipulation, but I also think, as an advocate for trade, we have not done enough for the communities that have been left behind.”

Warner claimed the TPP could add $800 billion to a trillion dollars to the economy over the next decade, but he bristled at a plan to spend less than one half of one percent of that money in areas that would lose jobs because of the deal.

Sandy Hausman is Radio IQ's Charlottesville Bureau Chief
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