Wilhelm Defends Clinton Stance on NAFTA : Trade: Chairman of Democratic National Committee, in third visit to this Republican stronghold in seven weeks, says the vote ‘is going to be very, very close.’

Democratic National Committee Chairman David Wilhelm on Monday defended the Clinton Administration’s stance on the North American Free Trade Agreement during an appearance at a reception of the Democratic Foundation of Orange County.

“The vote is going to be very, very close,” said Wilhelm, who was making his third appearance in Orange County in the past seven weeks. “It’s going down to the absolute wire.”

A questioner from the audience suggested that NAFTA is a “Republican program” that will bring down domestic wages. But Wilhelm responded that during the presidential elections, Bill Clinton made his support for NAFTA clear and “in the interest of working people in this country.”

He defended the Administration’s decision to send Vice President Al Gore into a televised debate tonight on CNN’s “Larry King Live” with unsuccessful presidential candidate Ross Perot nine days before Congress is scheduled to vote on legislation that would implement NAFTA.

“When the facts of NAFTA are known, most people are in favor of it,” Wilhelm said.

Wilhelm also took the opportunity to laud the Clinton Administration’s record after nine months in office, which he said includes adoption of a deficit-cutting budget, lowering of interest rates to the lowest point in a generation and a reform of student loan procedures.

“We’re not getting a lot of political credit for that,” he said. “We’re making a change that American people voted for.”

Wilhelm was appearing at the Pacific Club here for a regular meeting of the Democratic Foundation, a political action committee that raises money for local Democratic candidates.

He quipped that he must have set a record for visits by Democratic National Committee chairmen to Orange County, which for years has been a Republican stronghold.

But Wilhelm said the national committee is ready to help local efforts to defeat incumbent Republican Rep. Robert K. Dornan of Garden Grove.

“We have a chance here,” Wilhelm said. “Bob Dornan’s share of the vote has declined election after election after election.”