May 5, 2008 1:06 PM
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Clinton Camp Hits Obama Over Teamsters Report
On a conference call with reporters this morning, the Clinton campaign knocked Barack Obama over a report in the Wall Street Journal today that Obama "won the endorsement of the Teamsters earlier this year after privately telling the union he supported ending the strict federal oversight imposed to root out corruption."
Clinton has not taken a position on oversight of the Teamsters, and, as the Journal notes, Obama's stance is unusual, as "[p]olicy makers have largely treated monitoring of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters as a legal matter left to the Justice Department since an independent review board was set up in 1992 to eliminate mob influence in the union."
"One has to wonder what exactly Senator Obama's position is," spokesperson Phil Singer said on the call, as TPM points out. "It would appear as though he's taking a position in private and not telling voters about that view."
Obama told ABC this morning that he "wouldn't make any blanket commitments" on the issue.
"What I've said is is that we should take a look at what's been happening over the Teamsters and at all unions, to make sure that in fact organized labor is able to represent it's membership and engage in collective bargaining in accordance to what we've always believed in," Obama added.
Clinton has not taken a position on oversight of the Teamsters, and, as the Journal notes, Obama's stance is unusual, as "[p]olicy makers have largely treated monitoring of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters as a legal matter left to the Justice Department since an independent review board was set up in 1992 to eliminate mob influence in the union."
"One has to wonder what exactly Senator Obama's position is," spokesperson Phil Singer said on the call, as TPM points out. "It would appear as though he's taking a position in private and not telling voters about that view."
Obama told ABC this morning that he "wouldn't make any blanket commitments" on the issue.
"What I've said is is that we should take a look at what's been happening over the Teamsters and at all unions, to make sure that in fact organized labor is able to represent it's membership and engage in collective bargaining in accordance to what we've always believed in," Obama added.
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Brian Montopoli Brian Montopoli is the senior political reporter at CBSNews.com.
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