NAFTA was an issue in 2008 Democrat Pennsylvania primary due to loss of US manufacturing jobs. Both 2008 Democrat candidates, Senators Clinton and Obama, promised to renegotiate NAFTA if elected-AP

April 2008 article

4/22/2008, "Bush: Not time to renegotiate, cancel NAFTA," AP

"President Bush, replying to criticism from Democratic presidential candidates, said Tuesday that "now is not the time to renegotiate...or walk away from" the North American Free Trade Agreement. 
 
"Now is the time to make it work better for all our people, and now is the time to reduce trade barriers worldwide," Bush said....

NAFTA has been criticized by both Democratic Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, who have promised to try to renegotiate the agreement if elected president. (Pres.) Bush's comments came on the day of the critical Pennsylvania primary, in which trade--and the loss of manufacturing jobs in the United States--has been a top issue.

(Mexico Pres.) Calderon echoed Bush's comments on standing by the agreement....

Still, layoffs in U.S. manufacturing and the current economic slowdown have made NAFTA and other free-trade deals the subject of intense criticism in the Democratic-led Congress.
"I'm concerned about protectionism in America. It is not in our interest to become a protectionist nation," Bush said."
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Added: Hillary beat Obama in the 2008 Pa. primary, 4/22/2008, "Clinton wins Pennsylvania," CNN


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More on NAFTA (if you have a strong stomach), April 2008 article:

April 1, 2008, "Calderón, NAFTA, and Mexico’s Campesinos in 2008," Council on Hemispheric Affairs, coha.org

NAFTA cut off the Mexican government's longtime assistance to its poorest rural farmers on communal lands thus guaranteeing many would flee to the US as "usually illegal" immigrants. Some impoverished farmers who remained turned to growing opium and marijuana to survive. So NAFTA: was genocide against Mexico's rural poor, guaranteed more illegal immigration against Americans, and increased drug trade in Mexico:

"The tensions between the U.S. and Mexico have become more visible in the 2008 U.S presidential elections. Not only immigration, but the perception that NAFTA has hurt blue collar workers in the United States, has become an issue that has made its way into the presidential debates and thereafter to be the predominant issue, especially amongst Democrats."...(subhead, "The Rise of "Illicit" Farming")...

"In fact, the PAN may privately feel more comfortable with John McCain, who has said he will not renegotiate NAFTA, claiming that security and trade “are interconnected with each other”. Opting out for McCain would jeopardize U.S. relations with Canada, which is important to keep stable because of Canada’s commitment to maintain troops in Afghanistan and the fact that it is Washington’s largest trading partner." (subhead, "2008: US Presidential Election: Democratic Primary)

"Mexico now tolerates...subsidized U.S. agriculture, and the steady abolishment of the ejido [communal lands farmed by indigenous peasants], are the increasing rates of poverty in rural parts of Mexico. Consequently, this has led to a rise in immigration to the United States....In terms of migration to the U.S, Mexico’s rural areas comprise a quarter of its population, but accounts for 44 percent of migration (usually illegal) into the United States." (subhead, "Campsinos after NAFTA")

"The rise in poverty amongst peasant farmers also has led to an increase in a phenomenon known as illicit farming....Farmers who cannot survive by growing maize or corn, have turned to “illicit” farming. Farms that once grew crops shipped to other parts of Mexico as well as for subsistence living have been displaced, and now must turn to producing illegal agricultural goods, such as marijuana and opium, in order to survive....With Colombian cocaine trafficking; increase of illicit farming; and NAFTA’s free movement of goods, the Mexican government will see much more difficulty curbing drug cartel influence." (subhead, "The Rise of “Illicit” Farming")






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