> Subject: Republicans Grow Skeptical On Free Trade > > Republicans Grow Skeptical On Free Trade > 4 October 2007 > The Wall Street Journal <javascript:void(0)> > A1 > WASHINGTON -- By a nearly two-to-one margin, Republican voters believe > free trade is bad for the U.S. economy, a shift in opinion that > mirrors Democratic views and suggests trade deals could face high > hurdles under a new president. > The sign of broadening resistance to globalization came in a new Wall > Street Journal-NBC News Poll that showed a fraying of Republican Party > orthodoxy on the economy. While 60% of respondents said they want the > next president and Congress to continue cutting taxes, 32% said it's > time for some tax increases on the wealthiest Americans to reduce the > budget deficit and pay for health care. > Six in 10 Republicans in the poll agreed with a statement that free > trade has been bad for the U.S. and said they would agree with a > Republican candidate who favored tougher regulations to limit foreign > imports. That represents a challenge for Republican candidates who > generally echo Mr. Bush's calls for continued trade expansion, and > reflects a substantial shift in sentiment from eight years ago. > "It's a lot harder to sell the free-trade message to Republicans," > said Republican pollster Neil Newhouse, who conducts the Journal/NBC > poll with Democratic counterpart Peter Hart. The poll comes ahead of > the Oct. 9 Republican presidential debate in Michigan sponsored by the > Journal and the CNBC and MSNBC television networks. > The leading Republican candidates are still trying to promote free > trade. "Our philosophy has to be not how many protectionist measures > can we put in place, but how do we invent new things to sell" abroad, > former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said in a recent interview. > "That's the view of the future. What [protectionists] are trying to do > is lock in the inadequacies of the past." > Such a stance is sure to face a challenge in the 2008 general > election. Though President Bill Clinton famously steered the > Democratic Party toward a less-protectionist bent and promoted the > North American Free Trade Agreement, his wife and the current > Democratic front-runner, Hillary Rodham Clinton, has adopted more > skeptical rhetoric. Mrs. Clinton has come out against a U.S. trade > deal with South Korea. > Other leading Democrats have been harshly critical of trade expansion, > pleasing their party's labor-union backers. In a March 2007 WSJ/NBC > poll, before recent scandals involving tainted imports, 54% of > Democratic voters said free-trade agreements have hurt the U.S., > compared with 21% who said they have helped. > While rank-and-file Democrats have long blasted the impact of trade on > American jobs, slipping support among Republicans represents a fresh > warning sign for free-market conservatives and American companies such > as manufacturers and financial firms that benefit from markets opening > abroad. > With voters provoked for years by such figures as Pat Buchanan and > Ross Perot, "there's been a steady erosion in Republican support for > free trade," says former Rep. Vin Weber, now an adviser to Republican > presidential candidate Mitt Romney. > One fresh indication of the party's ideological crosswinds: > Presidential candidate Ron Paul of Texas, who opposes the Iraq war and > calls free-trade deals "a threat to our independence as a nation," > announced yesterday that he raised $5 million in third-quarter > donations. That nearly matches what one-time front-runner John McCain > is expected to report. > In a December 1999 Wall Street Journal-NBC poll, 37% of Republicans > said trade deals had helped the U.S. and 31% said they had hurt, while > 26% said they made no difference. > The new poll asked a broader but similar question. It posed two > statements to voters. The first was, "Foreign trade has been good for > the U.S. economy, because demand for U.S. products abroad has resulted > in economic growth and jobs for Americans here at home and provided > more choices for consumers." > The second was, "Foreign trade has been bad for the U.S. economy, > because imports from abroad have reduced demand for American-made > goods, cost jobs here at home, and produced potentially unsafe > products." > Asked which statement came closer to their own view, 59% of > Republicans named the second statement, while 32% pointed to the > first. > Such sentiment suggests a rocky outlook for trade expansion. Early in > his term, Mr. Bush successfully promoted a number of new free-trade > pacts, but the efforts have stalled, particularly after Democrats took > control of Congress last November. > Even relatively small deals are facing resistance. While trade pacts > with Peru and Panama have a strong chance of passing in the current > congressional term, deals with South Korea and Colombia are in serious > jeopardy. Some legislators believe South Korea isn't opening its > market wide enough to American beef and autos. > Presidential "fast track" trade negotiating authority has lapsed. > Without such authority, which requires Congress to take a single > up-or-down vote on trade deals, the next president would have trouble > pursuing large trade agreements, particularly the stalled global Doha > Round. >
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