Clinton, Obama debates NAFTA

For the first time in the 2008 presidential campaign season, free trade - and specifically the impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement-- has become a major campaign issue. No where was that more evident than at the last Democratic debate between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in Ohio. Both candidates said they'd be willing to opt out of NAFTA-- unless it's renotiatiated. SOUNDBITE: Hillary Clinton, presidential candidate, saying (English): "When I started running for the Senate I have been a critic. I've said it was flawed." SOUNDBITE: Barack Obama, presidential candidate, saying (English): "It's inaccurate for Senator Clinton to say that she's always opposed NAFTA. In her campaign for Senate she said that NAFTA on balance had been good for New York and good for America." The difficulty for both candidates is that while NAFTA is seen as a bad word in many parts of Ohio, it is viewed very favorably in Texas....and both states hold primaries next Tuesday. President Bush weighed in on the matter at a White House news conference. SOUNDBITE: U.S. President George W. Bush saying (English): "Those of us who grew up in Texas remember what the border looked like when we were kids, and it was really poor. And you go down to that border today, it is prosperous on both sides of the river, to the credit of those who proposed NAFTA, and to the credit of those who got NAFTA through the Congress." But in Ohio, where according to the Economic Policy Institute, an estimated 50,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost in the aftermath of NAFTA, it's a different story..making it difficut for any presidential candidate to simply embrace or demonize the trade agreement. Paula Stern is the former chairwoman fo the U.S. International Trade Commission. SOUNDBITE: Paula Stern, former chairwoman for the U.S. International Trade Commission, saying (English): "I think it's always a good idea to revisit and see what the impact has been so that we can if you will lay the ...