Folks cite NAFTA as proof of a right turn by Democrats, yet they ignore the fact that Democrats overwhelmingly had supported free trade agreements for forty years. In fact, NAFTA was the first trade agreement where a significant number of Democrats voted against it. Now, one can argue that NAFTA was a particularly bad form of free trade agreement, although it's really hard to distinguish it from those international agreements that created Structural Adjustmnet Programs (which old line supposedly more liberal Democrats supported). But the fact is that NAFTA marks the first major turn by Democrats against a free trade agreement in the modern era, so it's hard to see it as some rightward shift by the Democrats.
And as noted, a higher and higher percentage of Democrats throughout the 90s voted against various free trade agreements, so does that then demonstrate that Dems got increasingly progressive throughout the decade?
Nathan Newman