This does not bode well -- ha, ha, ha! -- for Bush's trade agenda. What a tragedy. You don't take out a very effective player like Portman, who has good relations in Congress and on the international scene, when this whole agenda stands on the precipice, without knowing what that means. |
We look at these agreements as Trojan horses, where whole other agendas are slipped in under the cover of free trade. It's a real threat to democratic, accountable governance. |
What people in Washington are saying is that Fitzpatrick simply could not stand up to the pressure of the Republican leadership when they demanded that he vote with them, meaning that on such a vital vote for his district, he prioritized the Republican Party marching orders over the interests of his own constituents and his own principles. People in Pennsylvania's 8th district have to worry that if Fitzpatrick caved in to GOP leadership pressure on CAFTA, what might he do on a whole host of other issues on which he has committed to his voters but which are not in line with the Republican leaders' positions. |