Liberal groups are insisting that Hillary Clinton take a clear stand against the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact that is a crucial part of President Obama’s second-term agenda.
They say Clinton, whose positions on trade have zigged and zagged during a long political career, should move beyond populist generalities and let voters know where she stands.
“This is the first pass/fail test of her candidacy,” said Murshed Zaheed, deputy political director of CREDO Action, another liberal group.
“It really is, ‘What side are you on?’” emphasized Jacob Swenson-Lengyel, communications lead for National People’s Action.
The TPP is the biggest trade deal the United States has negotiated since the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico.
NAFTA was finalized by President Bill Clinton’s administration, and has been a bugbear for opponents of trade ever since. Critics of the TPP argue it is cut from the same cloth as NAFTA, and Democrats in the House and Senate are opposing Obama’s call for “fast-track” legislation that would ease negotiations over TPP and its passage by Congress.