Well, one of Obama's advisers, anyway:
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama wants a successful end to long-running world trade talks, but will closely review any deal reached by the Bush administration, an Obama adviser said on Wednesday.
"Sen. Obama believes we need to change our trade focus from the Bush years so there is a true focus on workers, jobs, farmers and on ensuring that we are lifting standards of living overseas," Jason Furman, Obama economic adviser said in a statement in response to request by Reuters.
"That is the focus that as president he would bring to seeking completion of a successful Doha round," Furman said.
Furman issued the remarks before a meeting later this month in Geneva that World Trade Organization Director General Pascal Lamy has described as the "moment of truth" for the Doha round, which was launched nearly seven years ago.
"While (Obama) would be skeptical of any agreement done by the Bush administration -- especially in the last few months -- it would be premature to comment until there was an agreement and details to review," Furman said.
Of course, this may all be moot, because it's not clear a deal is coming at all. Still, this statement does not sound particularly positive (he is "skeptical" of any deal that Bush might conclude). Without any specifics on what he would want to see in a trade deal, though, I'm not quite sure what to make of it.
