This becomes clear to me as I play cohost of “Mid-Day Magazine,” Nan Wyatt’s talk show on KMOX, a 50,000-watt powerhouse that booms into 46 states. The early evidence suggests that Al Gore and Ross Perot will, if nothing else, earn high ratings in this week’s debate: at the mere mention of NAFTA, all 10 KMOX phone lines light up. The first caller points out that big business, NAFTA’s most visible supporter, has little credibility on this issue. Given the recent spate of corporate downsizings, few Americans believe the reassurances that the pact will create jobs. “They’re out to exploit people,” Bill growls at us. Ann from South St. Louis has two sons, electrical engineers, who work for companies that already have moved some operations to Mexico. If those employers move the rest of the jobs, she says, “we’ll lose everything.” Norman sounds a theme that Perot followers have used on prior talk shows to frighten suburban St. Louis Republicans otherwise inclined to support NAFTA: he warns that it “will destroy America’s national sovereignty.” Beverly, too, wonders whether foreigners will be dictating U.S. trade policies. “Nobody in Mexico is having second thoughts,” she notes. “They’re saying, ‘Sign it! Let’s go!”’
What’s painfully obvious is that Clinton has let his opponents define this debate. Many of these objections are answerable, and, given an effective NAFTA push from the White House, might have been deflected long ago. Even NAFTA’s supporters complain that Clinton hasn’t told Americans why they need the pact. “He should go directly to the people with a very strong argument–if he can,” says Sally, who thinks a healthier Mexican economy ultimately benefits the United States. Peter wishes Clinton had debunked warnings of lower U.S. wages by explaining that similar pacts within the European Economic Community have had the opposite effect.
We aren’t hearing much to encourage the president. Granted, talk radio tends to attract a disproportionate share of malcontents. But top-tier stations like KMOX also offer more reasoned commentary than Rush Limbaugh or Howard Stem tend to project. Wyatt says she first realized last summer that NAFT’s backers were begging for leadership. Clinton didn’t fill the gap. Wyatt says that in its dealings with KMOX, the administration has been more eager to book cabinet members like Ron Brown to talk about health-care reform. Only in the final days before the NAFTA vote has Clinton’s PR team put its heavy hitters like Trade Representative Mickey Kantor on the air.
Our tally ends with six callers for NAFTA, 12 against, and all 10 phone lines still crackling. Most callers have formulated their own positions. No one admits to using Gephardt, Clinton, Perot or any other politician as a source of wisdom on the issue. Mercifully, we survive the show with no reference to great sucking sounds.
From the shadow of the St. Louis arch, it’s clear that Clinton no longer has time to sell the trade pact. He now has no choice but to buy it. No matter how well Gore debates Perot, no matter how many rickety former presidents and secretaries of state the White House recruits to sway the public, NAFTA is damaged freight. And judging by the voices of St. Louis, Clinton can’t pin all the blame on his opponents. The Budweiser Clydesdales could have done a better sales job.
