On Wed, 24 May 2000, Andrew English wrote:
> If China PNTR passes, it will be because of the pressures from
> the White House on wavering Dems. The left critics of labor's
> tactics on this issue are a tiny force with no significant impact
> on this battle. The main ally of the corporate elite is Clinton.
Of course White House pressure matters, but we defeated the same Clinton-GOP alliance on fast-track legislation, where 3/4 of Dems voted no on expanding NAFTA and the power of Clinton to unilaterally negotiate trade deals.
But where we won on fast-track, we are going to lose on the PNTR vote. It is not the only difference, but the significant left-liberal defense of PNTR for China has given ideological cover for a number of previously "fair trade" Dems to cross over on this vote.
There is sometimes this bizarre argument that when we win a vote, it is because of the power of left mobilization, but when we lose, it is explained away by the irrelevance of left power. The reality is that the left has limited but real power to influence both politics and legislation, and when the left is divided, it inevitably tips results to corporate interests.
We won defeat of "fast track" against Clinton and the GOP. We lost PNTR against the same forces. There are other parts of the explanation, but the fact that significant left forces were defending PNTR gave a bunch of progressive Congresssmen an excuse to go where White House pressure was pushing them.
-- Nathan Newman