Obama campaign conference call discusses views from Pennsylvania on NAFTA, job losses, and the Clinton campaign

The Obama campaign held a conference call with International Brotherhood of Teamsters President James Hoffa and Rep. Ryan Dvorak (D-ID) to discuss voter opinions in Pennsylvania and Indiana, and the role of Mark Penn in Sen. Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

Hoffa said the current trend in Pennsylvania is that Clinton’s numbers are going down, and Obama is gaining on her. Hoffa said he has been campaigning for Obama at teamster’s conferences, talking about issues on trade, employee free choice, and Obama’s vision to keep jobs in the country and amend the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). He said the aftermath of NAFTA is “still going on, still devastating America.” Hoffa said that Obama told him he was going to amend NAFTA and reverse the provisions that provide subsidies and tax relief for companies that leave the United States. Dvorak said Indiana also started with support for Clinton, but momentum is now moving forward to support Obama.

Hoffa also said that the latest issue with Clinton’s former chief strategist Mark Penn has hurt her credibility, and the “smartest thing she can do is to jettison him.” When asked to comment on comparisons between Penn and Obama’s senior economic policy adviser Austan Goolsbee’s meeting with officials at the Canadian consulate, Hoffa said there was “no comparison” because Penn was getting paid to lobby, and Goolsbee was just attending a meeting.

Hoffa was also asked to compare the labor situation in Pennsylvania to Ohio. He said Ohio was perhaps even more devastated by job movement than Pennsylvania, but that even though Clinton beat Obama in Ohio, he is still closing in on her in Pennsylvania. He said the movement for Obama is surprising and encouraging, and that unions are working hard to support him.