Caving On CAFTA

Paul Waldman
July 28, 2005

Paul Waldman is a senior fellow with Media Matters for America and a senior contributor to The Gadflyer.

Earlier this week, potential 2008 presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, Evan Bayh, Mark Warner and Tom Vilsack trooped to Ohio to join in the Democratic Leadership Council’s “National Conversation.” Back in Washington, the DLC joined a shrinking group on the left side of the aisle advocating for the Central American Free Trade Agreement, or CAFTA. As the bill approached its vote in the House, even the “New Democrat Coalition” of centrist House Democrats came out against it.

The DLC has been doctrinaire on free trade from the organization’s inception, so it would have been a shock if it didn’t support CAFTA. And the further enhancements of corporate power over nations, states and localities written into the fine print don’t seem to bother the DLC much either, though even its advocates admit it won’t have much of an effect on the U.S. economy one way or another. But in the end, only 15 House Democrats heeded the DLC’s call to hand George W. Bush the first important legislative victory of his second term. Though 27 Republicans voted against it, CAFTA passed by a vote of 217-215.