San Antonio: On the eve of contests he hopes will force Hillary Rodham Clinton from the presidential race, Barack Obama faced a barrage of attacks on Monday about his integrity, foremost among them whether he engaged in double-speak about his opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta).
Much of the criticism was initiated by Clinton. But it assumed a life of its own as Obama struggled to explain why a Canadian government memo quoted one of his aides as saying Obama's opposition to Nafta was for political show.
According to AP reports, a Canadian Consulate official in Chicago said in a February 8 meeting, Obama's senior economic policy adviser told him Obama's tough Nafta stance was "more about political posturing than a clear articulation of policy plans."
But the economic aide, Austan Goolsbee, said his remarks had been 'misinterpreted'. A statement from the Canadian Embassy said, "there was no intention to convey, in any way, that Senator Obama and his campaign team were taking a different position in public from views expressed in private, including about Nafta."
In a news conference here, Obama insisted the memo was inaccurate and noted the aide did not "reach out" to the consulate but was invited there. "The notion that Senator Clinton is peddling, that somehow there are contradictions or winks and nods, has been disputed by all parties involved," he said.
Obama's campaign manager, David Plouffe, insisted that Goolsbee had "toured" the consulate in his capacity as a Chicago professor. The Canadian Embassy statement, however, suggested the consulate had invited Goolsbee as a campaign member.
Clinton earlier on Monday said Obama was giving Canada "the old wink-wink" behind closed doors and that the memo showed he was "talk" rather than "action."
The ruckus spread to Canada's parliament, where Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper denied an opposition leader's accusation that he was trying to besmirch Obama's reputation and jeopardise Canada's policy of non-interventionism.
Obama also fended off accusations he has withheld information about his relationship with real estate developer Antoin Rezko, who went on trial in Chicago on Monday charged with federal corruption.
Land purchase
Obama prompted angry cries from reporters when he insisted he had shared all "pertinent" information on his dealings with Rezko and complained that media requests "can go on forever." Among other transactions, Obama in 2006 bought a strip of land from Rezko to expand his yard.
Reporters retorted that he repeatedly has failed to answer such questions as how many fundraisers Rezko held for him and who attended.
There are no allegations that Obama did anything illegal involving the land purchase, which he repeated on Monday was "bone-headed."
Obama has made honesty and transparency a cornerstone of his campaign to change "politics as usual" in Washington.
