The wisdom of Cokie Roberts:

On Sunday Cokie Roberts said that Obama taking a vacation in Hawaii was politically unwise because it has the look of "some sort of foreign exotic place".

Which gives this blog an excuse to repeat a favorite post from May of last year, where she and her husband offered advice for Democrats:

Cokie and Steven Roberts on trade policy:

You're gonna love this: (excerpts, emp add)

Labor taking the wrong view on trade

In today's dynamic global economy, change has to be embraced, not rejected. That's why Democratic leaders cannot afford to listen to the labor movement as the country approaches a major debate over trade policy.

... Democratic leaders have to stand up to their old friends in the labor movement and tell them the truth: trade is vital to American prosperity and security, and you don't get a veto here.

As ardent free traders, we have long been skeptical of including labor and environmental rules in trade deals. They smacked too much of protectionism, and seemed to have one aim: Raising costs for foreign firms and making their products less competitive in the world market.

Freer trade is good for American businesses, American workers and American consumers.

... all the fear mongering about globalization destroying the American economy - heard frequently from Democratic candidates last fall - is wrong. In fact, the opposite is true.

[a] point that labor leaders never mention: their members, like all American consumers, can buy more goods more cheaply, from sweaters to softballs, when they are made abroad.

... do trade deals "sell out American workers"? Absolutely not. But there are losers as well as winners, and any free trader must also support better education, smarter midcareer training and more generous benefits for workers who do lose their jobs to international competition.

However, those losers, and their labor bosses, should not be allowed to dictate trade policy.

How about that (now discredited) line about getting a better education and midcareer training? That'll solve the problem for sure.

On just a purely political level, the Roberts' advice is poison for Democrats. Diss the labor faction? You've gotta be kidding.

Cokie called for Democrats to shun labor, calling them "losers". And asserts that she has "long been skeptical of including labor and environmental rules in trade deals", which, taken to the limit, means trading with countries using slave labor.

But hey, consumers can purchase cheaper softballs.


posted by Quiddity at 8/11/2008 12:37:00 AM