Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and John Edwards campaigned in Iowa Monday and both lobbed some criticism at a Clinton.
Edwards talked trade during a speech in Cedar Rapids and took a shot at Bill Clinton. "The truth is that for too long presidents of both parties have entered into trade agreements like NAFTA promising that they create millions of new jobs and enrich communities," Edwards said. "Instead, too many of these agreements have cost jobs and have devastated towns and communities across this country."
According to Edwards, the NAFTA deal former President Clinton advocated helped multinational corporations much more than it helped ordinary Americans. "These deals need to be good for middle class families. That’s the test. Is it good for American workers? Is it good for American middle class families?" Edwards asked. "If it’s not, it’s not good for America."
Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama campaigned in Le Mars Monday and he said those who think lobbyists don’t have too much influence in Washington have been in Washington too long. Over the weekend, rival Hillary Clinton defended lobbyists, saying they represent real people.
Obama again brushed aside Hillary Clinton’s contention that he could be a propagandist’s pawn if he were to talk to some of the world’s rogue leaders in his first year in the White House.
"The way we get used in terms of propaganda right now is precisely because we refuse to meet with people who don’t agree with us," Obama said. "The rest of the world has an impression that we are so intransigent or standoffish that we are not willing to have any kind of diplomatic contacts until countries agree to do what we want them to do."
This past weekend, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney ridiculed Obama for suggesting air strikes into Pakistan to go after al Qaida and Osama bin Laden.
"This is the only problem with running for president is that they take a paragraph out (an) eight-page speech and try to sensationalize it," Obama said. "The comment that I made was part of a comprehensive terrorism strategy."
Romney quipped Sunday that Obama’s foreign policy statements had veered from "Jane Fonda to Dr. Strangelove."
Joanne Glamm at KLEM in Le Mars contributed to this report.
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