McGinty bucks Obama and campaign chairman on trade deal, challenges Toomey

Pennsylvania’s Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate is going against a trade agreement supported by her campaign chairman and the Obama Administration.

At a rally outside Philadelphia City Hall Katie McGinty told union workers she’s against the Trans-Pacific Partnership, even though she normally agrees with the president.

 

“There are a variety of different issues, you are not going to see eye to eye on every single one, but I am in this race specifically because I want to be a force to grow more good paying jobs in this commonwealth and therefore I can’t be for a deal that even those who support  it say it will cost jobs,” she said.

McGinty’s campaign chairman, former Governor Ed Rendell also favors the TPP. McGinty says even though she supported the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) 30 years ago, times have changed.

“People were telling us the way to win market share is through trade deals but the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result,” she said.

Senator Pat Toomey, whom McGinty is challenging, voted with the Obama administration on TPA.  Campaign spokesman Steve Kelly says McGinty is flip-flopping on the issue.

“Pat Toomey has consistently supported trade policies that promote Pennsylvania jobs, fighting to open up foreign markets for products made by Pennsylvania manufacturers and farmers, and opposing bad trade practices like currency manipulation, steel dumping, and U.S. loans to foreign competitors,” Kelly said. “Like in so many areas, Katie McGinty’s record on trade is a fraud. She tries to sound like Bernie Sanders today, but she was a huge champion of NAFTA at the time it was approved.”