Kerry's talk on trade is honest [View All]

[Feanorcurufinwe]

Dayton Daily News Editorial:

Though the crowd was there to cheer him on, he didn't give the audience everything some might have liked.

One of the hot topics of 2004 is "outsourcing," which results in foreigners getting work from U.S. firms that Americans once did. Sen. Kerry said there's not much any politician can do to prevent companies from moving business overseas; it's a free country, firms can't be required to do business here. But he insisted there shouldn't be rewards for shipping out work, and no tax incentives to do so.

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He also embraces the fashionable talk these days of "fair trade." This is partly a reference to efforts to get foreign countries to adopt environmental standards, safety rules and wage rates that would raise their costs and foreign employees' standard of living. That is going to be a very tough effort, though. To his credit, Sen. Kerry does not promise miracles. Yet he did well with this union audience. That suggests that workers are not asking for miracles. On the other hand, though, it is not clear that Sen. Kerry could have won a debate before this particular audience with a candidate who was taking a more aggressive position against recent trade agreements.

Sen. John Edwards may be emerging as that kind of candidate, which is a little strange. In the early months of the campaign, candidates Dennis Kucinich and Dick Gephardt were seen as representing the hard-line labor view on trade, not so much Sen. Edwards. (And Rep. Gephardt has endorsed Sen. Kerry.)

Nevertheless, there's a legitimate debate to be had. As the trade issue ripens — and as Ohio finally gets the attention of the national candidates — one candidate has made a fundamentally responsible case right in the heartland of manufacturing-job loss country.
http://www.daytondailynews.com/opinion/content/opinion/daily/0219kerry.html