Local and ’08 politics clash for Clinton

The shutdown of an automotive plant in upstate New York illustrates the political tightrope Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) is walking in running a national campaign while continuing to devote significant time and energy to her local constituents.    

Local concerns have grabbed Clinton’s attention this week following General Motors’s decision to close a plant in Massena, N.Y., soon after Election Day 2008. More than 400 workers are expected to lose their jobs.

{mosads}Clinton’s office teamed with Rep. John McHugh (R-N.Y.) on a May 11 letter to GM imploring the struggling automaker to work with state, federal and local officials to keep the plant opened. The letter said the impact on “the quality of life of 425
loyal and hardworking GM employees cannot be overstated.”

After GM announced the Massena closure, McHugh’s office blasted the company in a statement charging that GM had shown little desire to work out a mutually beneficial decision for GM and Massena.

Clinton’s office did not release a statement until late yesterday afternoon. The senator said she spoke with GM President and CEO G. Richard Wagoner Jr. and asked the company to work with her staff to take care of the employees and the town.
However, Clinton’s statement was noticeably less critical of the company than McHugh’s.

One source close to the Massena shutdown said this does not reflect a lack of concern from Clinton or her office to the plight of Massena, since Clinton’s office teamed with McHugh on the original bipartisan letter. However, the source said it indicates a desire by Clinton to hold back in public criticism of GM because of her hopes of currying favor with automakers.

In the last week, Clinton has looked more like a friend to the auto industry than her opponents, following harsh words chief rival Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) delivered to industry leaders in Detroit, sources said.

Clinton has not been as quick to push for fuel efficiency standards as stringent as those proposed by presidential hopefuls Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.).

Because she represents upstate New York, which is home to a few auto plants, Clinton understands the issues that are important to Detroit’s carmakers and workers, sources said. Many of the healthcare, energy and trade issues in Michigan are similar to those in Rochester, Syracuse and most recently Massena, which have also suffered from a decline in manufacturing, industry sources said.

Clinton ran for reelection to the Senate last year on a platform that relied heavily on promising to improve the economy and job markets in rural areas of upstate New York.

While Obama irritated Michigan’s automakers last week with a speech to the Economic Club of Detroit criticizing the Big Three for making gas-guzzling cars, Clinton has avoided rhetoric that would kick the industry while it is down.

“Her rhetoric is fine, whereas Obama, you don’t feel like he’s someone who wants to help,” one industry source said.

Last year, GM’s political action committee gave $5,000 to the senator’s reelection war chest, much of which was transferred to her presidential coffers.

On fuel efficiency standards, perhaps the most important issue for Detroit, Clinton has thus far taken a less aggressive position than the rest of the Democratic field. Clinton spokesman Phil Singer said Clinton supports at least a 10-mile per gallon increase over the next 10 years, but noted that she is still unveiling her policy proposals as a presidential candidate.

Others seeking the Democratic nomination have advocated much larger hikes in fuel economy rules. For example, Edwards supports an increase from the current 24 miles per gallon to 40 miles per gallon by 2016.

Industry sources believe Clinton is trying to position herself for a victory in Michigan’s primary, which could help frame her as a champion for U.S. workers and the manufacturing sector.     

 Clinton’s campaign also has some links to the Big Three auto companies.

Mark Penn, Clinton’s chief strategist, did polling work for Ford, an industry source said, and Clinton campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle is married to Jim Doyle, the president of the Level Field Institute, a pro-Big Three group funded by retirees of Ford, General Motors and DaimlerChrysler that blames foreign currency manipulation for much of the industry’s woes.

Doyle, who served as an aide in the 1996 Clinton-Gore campaign and in the Commerce Department under President Clinton, said the Level Field Institute provides the same information to all of the candidates. He said Clinton and Edwards

have both been “pretty active” on auto industry issues.

But while Doyle has given the primary maximum of $2,300 to Clinton, he has not given to Edwards’s campaign.

That said, industry sources said they would not read too much into the connection, although they described it as interesting nonetheless.

The auto industry’s woes have continued to make news in recent weeks, with GM being surpassed by Toyota as the world’s largest auto maker, and The Chrysler Group being sold by DaimlerChrysler.

Edwards has repeatedly used the plight of U.S. autoworkers to highlight growing inequalities in the U.S. and the troubles of the manufacturing sector, and could emerge as Clinton’s No. 1 challenger in Michigan.

Edwards also could have an edge with his campaign manager, former House Democratic Whip and Michigan Rep. David Bonior, who was close to the United Auto Workers (UAW). “There’s no one who better understands Michigan politics than David Bonior,” said one industry source, who called Bonior a “great champion” for the industry.

UAW Legislative Director Alan Reuther also described Bonior as a close friend, but added that “you should not read into that support for any presidential candidate.”

The UAW has not endorsed any candidate so far, and Reuther said one would find a diversity of opinions in the union’s rank and file, as well as in its leadership. UAW will be holding a forum on Aug. 6 for the Democratic presidential candidates, and could make an endorsement later this year.