Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 11, 1993 TAG: 9311110097
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Opponents suggested it was, claiming enough votes to defeat the North American Free Trade Agreement exactly one week before the House vote.
"This is not an athletic contest," declared a testy Perot, when questioners suggested he had performed weakly against Vice President Al Gore and might have cost his side support.
The White House was treating it as a contest, though, and one that Gore had won handily.
"You were great last night," Clinton told Gore in a telephone call to Denver, where Gore was appearing at a NAFTA rally.
Clinton praised him for "appealing to people's hopes instead of their fears" and said poll results showed "you really can make these arguments to the American people and tell the truth and prevail."
A CNN-USA Today poll, surveying 357 adults before and after the debate, found that those favoring NAFTA increased from 34 percent to 57 percent, while those opposed went down slightly, from 38 percent to 36 percent.
The Clinton administration named a handful of new supporters. But one opponent, Rep. Gerald Solomon, R-N.Y., said there were 221 "firm votes against NAFTA" in the House - three more than needed to defeat the pact.
The administration challenged those figures, saying the outcome would be decided by a bloc of 25 to 30 undecided lawmakers.
Perot and Gore each said he had personally picked up several votes Wednesday, but neither would give names. Perot said, "I don't think it's smart to show the other side your cards."
Organized labor, many environmental groups and Perot strongly oppose NAFTA, which would create the world's largest free-trade zone by eliminating trade barriers among the United States, Mexico and Canada.
They contend the pact will cost thousands of U.S. jobs as companies set up factories in Mexico to take advantage of cheaper wages and lax enforcement of environmental regulations.
The administration says it will lead to many more U.S. jobs than it costs because it will expand markets for U.S. goods.
Rep. David Bonior, D-Mich., contended that opponents had picked up seven votes to the administration's five and insisted that the Gore-Perot debate had not hurt anti-NAFTA forces.
"I don't think it cost us any votes," he said, although some opponents were distancing themselves from Perot.
by CNB