Obama 'cautiously optimistic' on TPP trade deal

[cascadiance]

58. I wonder if he's optimistic about Ron Wyden who's getting a primary challenge for pushing this BULL!

Even though Kevin Stine is young and not as experienced as I'd like, I believe many of us here should vote for him to send a message to those who want to sell us out with this Free trade BULLSHIT!


http://blogs.rollcall.com/rothenblog/fundraising-emails-politicians-cry-wolf/

Politicians Who Cry Wolf in Fundraising Emails

...

Contrary to the email, it was liberal groups that made noise about challenging Wyden earlier in the cycle. But a threat from “left-wing SuperPACs” probably doesn’t excite Democratic donors to contribute to the senator quite as much as partisan counterparts.

Medford City Councilman Kevin Stine is running against Wyden in the Democratic primary, but he doesn’t appear to have raised or spent the $5,000 through the end of September to necessitate filing with the FEC. Wyden fell just short of 90 percent in the 2010 primary.

“The emails sound desperate because that’s how they raise money,” explained one Democratic operative. “It’s hard to get people to contribute when you’re safe and there’s no crisis or fire in sight, so it’s a strategy both sides employ to ratchet up the stakes.”

But in case you were worried about the senator’s re-election chances this year, “Ron isn’t backing down, no matter how hard they come after him.”

http://blogs.rollcall.com/rothenblog/ron-wyden-primary-tpp-trade-safe/?dcz=

Wyden Looks Safe, but Democratic Rift Is Real

Liberal groups have targeted Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden for defeat in next year’s elections unless he sides with them on upcoming trade deals. But any talk about the four-term Democrat’s vulnerability is premature until there is a challenger.

“Secretive Trade Deal Could Pose Problems At Home For Ron Wyden,” a rather alarming Huffington Post headline declared in February. The corresponding story appears to be based on a poll paid for by Democracy for America and a press release circulated to create doubt about the senator’s re-election bid. But the structure of the survey unfortunately doesn’t measure Wyden’s vulnerability.

Fifty percent of Oregon voters said they were less likely to vote for Wyden if he “voted with Republicans in favor of fast-track authority and the TPP,” while 21 percent were more likely, according to the Feb. 16-17 automated survey by Public Policy Polling.

Ideally, the survey would have started with a ballot test, where respondents would have been able to make a choice between Wyden and a named alternative. Instead, the vote question was asked after a series of questions (and DFA-provided information) about trade deals.

...

We need to send money to Stine's campaign to help send a message before primary season is over!

http://www.kevinstine.org/