Barack Obama believes that NAFTA should be amended. If he were president, he said, he would call the president of Mexico and the president of Canada, “to try to amend NAFTA, because I think that we can get labor agreements in that agreement right now.”
The only problem?
Canada does not have a president.
As David Frum points out, this is “the kind of misstep that would cost a Republican candidate for president dearly.” When, however, this misstep is made by a Democratic candidate for president, the situation seems to be different. Yes, he is criticized by some on the right, but somehow it does not get the media attention it deserves.
It deserves, you ask? Yes, this type of error should get a lot of attention. To some, this might be a minor error. I disagree with that. Foreign policy is never minor and a candidate should know whether a country is ruled by a president or a prime minister, especially if the country involved is a close ally.
PAST CONTRIBUTOR.