OBAMA CAMPAIGN CAUGHT IN NAFTA DOUBLE TALK

AP - Barack Obama's senior economic policy adviser privately told Canadian officials to view the debate in Ohio over trade as "political positioning," according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press that was rejected by the adviser. A Barack Obama adviser says Canadian officials inaccurately portrayed talk about the camp's trade policy. . . .

The memo is the first documentation to emerge publicly out of the meeting between the adviser, Austan Goolsbee, and officials with the Canadian consulate in Chicago, but Goolsbee said it misinterprets what he told them. The memo was written by Joseph DeMora, who works for the consulate and attended the meeting.

"Noting anxiety among many U.S. domestic audiences about the U.S. economic outlook, Goolsbee candidly acknowledged the protectionist sentiment that has emerged, particularly in the Midwest, during the primary campaign," the memo said. "He cautioned that this messaging should not be taken out of context and should be viewed as more about political positioning than a clear articulation of policy plans."

Goolsbee disputed the characterization from the conservative government official. "This thing about 'it's more about political positioning than a clear articulation of policy plans,' that's this guy's language," Goolsbee said of DeMora. "He's not quoting me. "I certainly did not use that phrase in any way," he said.

The Obama campaign and the Canadian embassy denied there was any inconsistency between what the candidate was saying publicly and what advisers were saying privately.

CNN - The Canadian memo said that when Rioux "asked whether we could expect to hear more of this as the elections progressed, Goolsbee thought not. In fact, he mentioned that going forward the Obama camp was going to be careful to send the appropriate message without coming off too protectionist.

"As Obama continues to court the economic populist vote, particularly in upcoming contests like Ohio, we are likely to see a continuation of some of the messaging that hasn't played in Canada's favor, but this should continue to be viewed in the context in which it is delivered," DeMora wrote in the closing section.

Obama spokesman Bill Burton said Goolsbee's visit was not as an emissary from the campaign, but as a professor from the University of Chicago. He was not authorized to share any messages from the campaign, Burton said.

CNN - "This is being reported as if somehow this is an official meeting of an Obama representative and the Canadian government," Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said in a conference call with reporters. "That was not the case. He was essentially doing a walking tour and was essentially having a casual conversation and the report on that conversation was not accurate."

But the Associated Press *reported Monday it had obtained a memo from a Canadian diplomat essentially confirming CTV's story and stating Goolsbee said Obama's tough talk on NAFTA was "more about political positioning than a clear articulation of policy plans." Goolsbee denied Monday he ever made such a suggestion, and the Canadian embassy issued a statement saying there was it had "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.

POLITICO - For four days after a news report alleged that Sen. Barack Obama's economic adviser had told Canadian officials to ignore the Democrat's tough talk on trade deals, the campaign gave incomplete – and sometimes misleading – explanations of whether a meeting had even taken place.

Obama spokesman Bill Burton said Monday night that the campaign had known of the meeting between adviser Austan Goolsbee and Canada's consul general in Chicago since a Canadian television network, CTV, first reported the interaction last Wednesday. "When they reported it, we were aware of it at that point," Burton said.

Burton and other campaign aides – even Obama himself – vociferously denied the substance of the report, which alleged Goolsbee had given back-channel assurances to Canada that the Illinois senator's call for reopening labor and environmental rules in the North American Free Trade Agreement was merely political posturing.

But for days, the campaign was less-than-forthcoming on a specific detail: Had a meeting actually occurred? "Well, the Canadian ambassador issued a statement saying that that story was absolutely false. There had been no such contact," said Susan Rice, an Obama foreign policy adviser, on MSNBC's "Tucker" show Thursday. "There had been no discussions on NAFTA. So we take the Canadians at their word . . . Period."

Also Thursday, Goolsbee told ABC News that he "would not confirm or deny meetings with anyone." Yet he hinted at an interaction, saying Canada's consul general contacted him "at one point to say ‘hello' because their office is around the corner."

David Plouffe, Obama's campaign manager, was asked Friday by reporters to comment on the conversation reported on Canadian television.

"The story is just not true. Obama's position on this is very clear. Our campaign and the ambassador have been very clear on this; it did not happen," Plouffe said, appearing to tailor his statement to only address elements of the initial Canadian TV story that had been discounted.

The Canadian network tweaked its initial story last week to reflect that Goolsbee had spoken with the consul general in Chicago, not the ambassador in Washington, as it was first reported. It is also appears now that the Canadian officials, not Goolsbee, initiated the contact.

Despite Obama's promises to run as a transparent and straight-talking candidate, the campaign offered muddled responses that allowed the story to metastasize in the days leading up to a primary election in Ohio, where trade issues could prove decisive. Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton have attempted to appeal to voters with promises to renegotiate NAFTA.

The story gained clarity only after the Associated Press obtained a 1,300-word memo Sunday written by a consulate staffer that detailed the Feb. 8 meeting between Goolsbee and the Canadian consul general, Georges Rioux. . .

Burton stood by the campaign's handling of the story, saying the denials were in response to the "substance of the matter at hand" about whether someone representing Obama was consistent about his position on trade.

"At no point did we deny there was a meeting," Burton said Monday, hours after Sen. Dick Durbin, a top Obama surrogate, denied the meeting on MSNBC. "We made it crystal clear to anyone who was covering it."