The July 2016 Democrat Platform meeting, controlled by Hillary, made sure TPP was left intact: "Both the Clinton campaign and the DNC were whipping members to oppose stronger anti-TPP language." 7/9/16. If Hillary opposed TPP, the platform would've reflected that, which it didn't.
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7/26/16, "Clinton friend McAuliffe says Clinton will flip on TPP, then walks it back," Politico, Annie Karni, Philadelphia
"Terry McAuliffe tells POLITICO the Democratic nominee will support a deal with tweaks that Sanders' supporters hate. But the Clinton campaign calls the comments 'flat wrong.'"
"Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, longtime best friend to the Clintons, said Tuesday that he believes Hillary Clinton will support the TPP trade deal if elected president, with some tweaks.
“I worry that if we don’t do TPP, at some point China’s going to break the rules -- but Hillary understands this,” he said in an interview after his speech on the main stage at the Democratic National Convention. “Once the election’s over, and we sit down on trade, people understand a couple things we want to fix on it but going forward we got to build a global economy.”
Pressed on whether Clinton would turn around and support the trade deal she opposed during the heat of the primary fight against Bernie Sanders, McAuliffe said: “Yes. Listen, she was in support of it. There were specific things in it she wants fixed.”
Later, McAuliffe’s spokesman sought to clarify the governor’s remarks after this story published, saying he was simply expressing what he wants Clinton to do if she is elected president. “While Governor McAuliffe is a supporter of the TPP, he has no expectation Secretary Clinton would change her position on the legislation and she has never told him anything to that effect.”
A top Clinton campaign official said the Democratic nominee never told McAuliffe she would be open to changing her position on TPP -- and campaign chairman John Podesta confirmed to POLITICO she never said anything like that to her longtime ally. “Love Gov. McAuliffe, but he got this one flat wrong,” Podesta tweeted.
“Hillary opposes TPP BEFORE and AFTER the election. Period. Full stop.”
But Trump’s campaign immediately seized on the comments. “This should surprise nobody!” tweeted Donald Trump’s campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
The battle over TPP was one of the most notable to erupt on the floor of the convention Monday, as Sanders delegates protested the fact that language opposing the trade deal was excluded from the party platform.
Sanders delegates started a cheer, “No TPP!” as Rep. Elijah Cummings was speaking and hoisted a banner that read “Economic Justice, Climate Justice, Trade Justice.”
And McAuliffe’s comments played directly into the image of Clinton that infuriates Sanders' delegates -- especially after her selection of Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine as her running mate, who vocally supports the Obama-backed trade deal.
"I have no confidence she's against TPP," said Christine Pellegrino, a Sanders delegate from New York. "I haven't made up my mind about what options exist at the convention.”
McAuliffe said he feels confident Democrats will win back the Senate and even win back 30 seats in the House and be able to pass a tweaked version of the trade deal supported by President Obama. “If we get enough things done, enough opportunities to change TPP, I’m optimistic going forward,” he said. "We cannot let China write these rules for 11 other countries.”
Even as protesters headed for the exits of the Wells Fargo Center after the roll call made Clinton's nomination official, McAuliffe insisted the party was still on the road to unity.
"Sen. Sanders was a true champion," McAuliffe said. "He sent out texts, his speech last night said we have to come together. He's done everything we've asked him to do. This is a hard business, it just takes time. I think this convention made a lot of progress.""
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Added: 7/9/16, Democrat Party Platform leaves TPP intact:
"Sanders' side warned that Donald Trump could outflank Democrats on trade, claiming the Republican Party could include stronger language against the TPP than Democrats had in their platform." (11th parag. from end) Crony labor union chiefs lined up against American workers and in support of globalist profiteers: "It was clear as a string of trade union presidents lined up at the microphone to oppose the Sanders amendments that his forces were outmatched." (parag. 11) Those in charge have no fear of Bernie Sanders.
7/9/16, "Bernie Sanders Defeated on Trade in Democratic Platform Fight," NBC News, Alex Seitz-Wald, Orlando, Fla.
"In a major defeat during an otherwise fruitful process for him, Bernie Sanders failed to get strong language opposing the Trans-Pacific Partnership inserted in the draft Democratic platform at a party meeting here Saturday.
Instead, the committee approved an amendment backed by a large swath of labor unions that called for tough restrictions on trade deals, but did not explicitly oppose the trade pact with a dozen Pacific Rim nations (TPP) that liberals say would hurt workers."...
[Ed. note: It's not a "liberal" vs "conservative" issue. Those labels no longer apply. Labor union officials are supposedly "liberal," are on record that TPP would hurt workers, but strongly support TPP for their own reasons. As the article describes, "the labor unions acted as a political shield for the White House" making sure no language against TPP appeared in the Democrat platform.]
(continuing): ""We are proud to stand with our friends in organized labor in passing a strong amendment to the Democratic platform on all trade deals, including the TPP," said Clinton aide Maya Harris, who is quarterbacking her campaign's platform efforts....Both Sanders and Hillary Clinton oppose the TPP"...
[Ed. note: Misleading if not false about Hillary. She promoted TPP on at least 45 occasions as Secretary of State. CNN, 6/15/2015. Only in mid 2015 did she partially flip flop under pressure. At the time of the flip flop, she spoke of deferring to Obama and congress and/or changing "some specifics" of the deal. This simply isn't knowable or possible for a deal that as of Nov. 2015 was 5544 pages long, includes 11 other countries, and isn't in its final form. Further: "Although it is called a “trade” agreement, the TPP is not mainly about trade. Of TPP's 30 chapters, only six deal with traditional trade issues."
(CNN) "President Obama has been pushing hard for the deal, while Democrats in the House of Representatives on Friday revolted and voted against a key part of the legislation. One told me, "there was a very strong concern about the lost jobs and growing income inequality," adding, pointedly: "Ms. Clinton should take notice." She clearly did. After first dodging the issue, on Sunday in Iowa, Clinton said that "the President should listen to and work with his allies in Congress, starting with (House Minority Leader) Nancy Pelosi, who have expressed their concerns....Clinton said, "there are some specifics in there that could and should be changed. So I am hoping that's what happens now -- let's take the lemons and turn it into lemonade." But as members of the Obama administration can attest, Clinton was one of the leading drivers of the TPP when Secretary of State."
Terry McAuliffe is far from the first to say Hillary will support TPP. Wall St. knows her very well and is backing her: Insiders all expect her to "pivot" back to her normal globalist position (7/2/16 report).]
(continuing): "but the Obama administration supports it, and the desire to avoid embarrassing the president carried the day, with the labor unions acting as a political shield for the White House."...
Delegates twice Saturday morning voted down stronger opposition language as Sanders supporters booed and chanted "sellout." Some eventually walked out of the meeting entirely.
Many said they doubted Clinton's stated opposition to the TPP and saw her delegates' votes here as a sign she intends to backtrack during a potential vote on the TPP during the lame-duck session of Congress later this year. Harris strongly denied that, saying her boss opposes the TPP "before or after the election."
The actual terms of the debate were often obfuscated on Clinton's side, however, as no one speaking on behalf of the labor-backed amendment mentioned offending the president. Instead, they simply said their amendment went far enough or claimed adding anti-TPP language would make the plank too narrow, since it wouldn't mention future trade deals.
"We've had no speech here in favor of TPP, but we can't bring ourselves to say we oppose TPP," said Sanders delegate Robert Kraig.
But it was clear as a string of trade union presidents lined up at the microphone to oppose the Sanders amendments that his forces were outmatched....
Both the Clinton campaign and the DNC were whipping members to oppose stronger anti-TPP language, as a courtesy to Obama."...
[Ed. note: Obama? Obama will be gone in a few months. Doesn't the author wonder why a Democrat platform to go into effect after Obama is gone has to be what Obama would've wanted?]
(continuing): "Most votes occurred along party lines, with a handful of defections on both sides depending on the vote.
AFSCME President Lee Saunders, acting on behalf of pro-Clinton labor unions, which make up the vast majority of the labor movement, proposed the amendment that ultimately succeeded.
The 452-word amendment, which labor leaders felt went as far as possible without running afoul of the White House, lays out numerous restrictions desired for trade deals. But it does not oppose the TPP....
Former NAACP Chairman Ben Jealous, another Sanders ally, tried to add a secondary amendment to Saunders' that simply added the language "and that's why we oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership." It was voted down 106-74.
Sanders' side warned that Donald Trump could outflank Democrats on trade, claiming the Republican Party could include stronger language against the TPP than Democrats had in their platform.
A final Sanders amendment, proposed by activist Jim Hightower, failed 104-77.
The first draft of the platform, produced by 15-member working group, essentially punted on trade. That left plenty of room for non-Sanders forces [globalist profiteers] to argue they had made major additions to the platform....
Sanders is expected to endorse Clinton on Tuesday in New Hampshire."...
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Comment: Sanders helped the Democrat Party out of a bind. They needed to appear to have someone running "against" Mrs. Bill Clinton. At the first "debate," Sanders almost blew it when he melted and said he didn't want to talk about emails. Nice to be able to run unopposed.
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