Hey Hillary! You really need to do a better job of faking sincerity.
That is the advice of Dave Johnson at the Huffington Post. Johnson is worried that in the general election Donald Trump, if he is the nominee, would be a lot more credible in his opposition to trade deals than Hillary Clinton who is merely faking it. What she needs to do to is put on a credible game face to get away with faking her opposition to trade deals such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership in order to fool enough people to win the general election. So far Trump is much more believable in his opposition to trade deals which is causing grave concern by Johnson.
One of Donald Trump’ main elements of appeal to his voters - if not the main appeal - is his stance on trade and bringing jobs back to America. It is a winning message and Clinton is waaaayyyy behind the curve on this.
...Trade and jobs are at the center of Trump’s appeal. He rightly says China is killing us on trade and taking jobs, and people listen.
America’s well-to-do elites think everything is going fine. Their stock portfolios are way up, so they’re feeling good. They’re writing op-eds about how well things are going and how our corporate paradigm is doing so well for us and the world. The elite “donor class” is giving huge sums to “continuity” politicians. This is elites talking to other elites and not at all hearing what is going on in the country.
Donald Trump is not dependent on this donor class and he is saying that things are not fine, that wages are not going up, that jobs are hard to find, that trade is killing us. So people for whom things are not going fine, for whom jobs are hard to find, for whom wages are not going up and who trade is killing are listening. And that is most people in the U.S.
But...but didn't Hillary also say she is opposed to the TPP? I mean we can believe her, right?
Hillary Clinton is not seen as someone who will fight against our country’s corporate-driven trade policies. In the most recent New York primary exit polls, for example, voters who self-describe as pro-trade voted for Clinton over Sanders 61 percent to 39 percent. In Michigan voters who feel trade takes away jobs voted for Sanders 56 percent to 41 percent.
Clinton has been hedging. For example, on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) she said, just before the first Democratic primary debate, “based on what I know so far, I can’t support this agreement.” But she also said, “I still believe in the goal of a strong and fair trade agreement in the Pacific as part of a broader strategy both at home and abroad, just as I did when I was secretary of state.”
Clinton has said she will not lobby her supporters to vote against TPP and other such corporate-dominated agreements. She has not said that TPP and other corporate-dominated trade supporters won’t be invited into her administration. She certainly will not demand that Obama withdraw TPP from consideration by Congress.
The result? Clinton has a credibility problem on trade. Almost no one believes her.
GASP! Well, perhaps many in the mainstream media can pretend to believe her. I bet Charlie Rose and George Stephanopoulos can pull off that act...at least until the election is over.
Johnson sounds a lot gloomier now than he did on April 11 when he held out a ray of hope that Hillary could fake just sufficient sincerity on this issue to pick up enough votes for an election victory.
Obama’s push for TPP therefore harms Clinton as she tries to be seen by voters as the Obama successor. Voters hate the TPP. Having that threat of its passage after the election hanging out there only harms Clinton in the eyes of the electorate. Candidate Clinton has an opportunity to address her TPP credibility problem by asking Obama to withdraw TPP from consideration by Congress, and calling on her supporters and endorsers in Congress to join her in demanding that the agreement be withdrawn.
Yeah, and while she is doing that, Hillary could wink her eye to assure those in support of TPP that she really doesn't mean it. My advice to Hillary is that she take coaching lessons from the grand master in faking sincerity ...her husband.
