Agriculture Finally gets a Plug
In the final presidential debate the two candidates finally discussed an important agricultural issue. The topic was trade and Senator McCain brought up the Columbian Free Trade Agreement. He even said what a benefit this FTA would be for agriculture. Free trade and trade deals are an issue that sharply divides the two men. McCain is a solid supporter of free trade, “I am a free trader. We need to have education and training programs for displaced workers that works, going to our community colleges.” Senator Obama favored a more cautious approach, saying “I believe in free trade,” but also maintained, “we’ve got to have a president who understands the benefits of free trade but also is going to enforce unfair trade agreements and is going to stand up to other countries.”
Obama, in the grip of organized labor, can not support such trade deals and it showed in the debate. When Obama said he would only negotiate with Colombia after certain labor issues were resolved, McCain delivered the knock out punch by saying Obama would meet with terrorists with no pre-conditions but would not meet with trading partners the same way.
The Democrats have been the biggest obstacle to trade legislation and under an Obama administration this will not change. There are many aspects of farm policy that John McCain does not get but trade is not one of them.