Trade has become a central issue in the U.S. Senate race between Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (left) and former Sen. Russ Feingold (right), a Democrat. Credit: AP

SHARE

By of the

What did they read and when did they read it?

That's becoming a big question around the big issue of trade in the race between Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson and Democratic challenger Russ Feingold.

Specifically, the two campaigns are squabbling over the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the trade deal negotiated by President Barack Obama's administration with 11 Pacific-Rim nations.

After reading a 61-page summary of the agreement posted on the Internet by WikiLeaks last March, Feingold came out in opposition to the deal in May.

Feingold, who as a U.S. senator voted against the North American Free Trade Agreement, has said TPP "will only do more damage to Wisconsin communities." He has called on Johnson to follow his lead and oppose the trade deal.

Johnson said he hasn't made up his mind on TPP and noted that a Senate vote has not yet been scheduled. He said he and his staff are now making their way through the more than 6,000 page agreement, which was released in November.

How much of the agreement has he read?

"More than I've enjoyed," Johnson said.

But that hasn't stopped Democrats from trying to push Johnson on making a decision over the politically charged agreement. Johnson has backed three trade agreements — South Korea, Panama and Colombia — and has expressed support for free trade in general because "it lifts all boats."

Three presidential candidates oppose the TPP deal as written: Republican Donald Trump and Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

Democrats also claim that Johnson didn't read any of the agreement's draft chapters, even as he voted to give Obama fast-track authority to negotiate TPP. A Democratic group filed a freedom of information request with the U.S. Trade Representative asking if Johnson or his staff viewed draft chapters over a period of several years.

"I've got far higher priorities," Johnson said about not reading the drafts. Johnson said it was a matter of prioritizing his time as he juggled a busy work schedule that included various committee assignments, as well as being chair of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

He said the vote on fast-track authority was "just a process. That had nothing to do with whether or not in the end I was going to support whatever the outcome of that negotiation was."

Johnson said the Democratic attack was "ridiculous."

"The truth is, he should be careful," Johnson said of Feingold. "What it's exposing is his own uninformed, ill-informed, knee-jerk, jump-to-conclusion reaction to this thing without going through the hard work of actually getting input, listening to constituents. All the constituents, not just his buddies in unions who have the knee-jerk reaction that they're against free trade regardless."

"There's one person running for the U.S. Senate in this race that is doing the hard work, the careful consideration, reaching out, getting input, listening to people," Johnson said. "And there's one who came to a quick conclusion. ... Do you think Senator Feingold read the over 6,000 pages of this complex deal? Do you think Senator Feingold even understands the private sector much less the individual industry groups that are being affected by this deal? Of course he doesn't."

A Feingold campaign spokesman criticized Johnson's stance.

"What could possibly be more of a priority than protecting Wisconsin jobs?" said Michael Tyler. "If Senator Johnson had been doing his own job, he'd have reviewed this thing and known it's nothing more than a raw deal written for corporate interests at the expense of Wisconsin jobs."

Tyler said, "The bottom line is that Senator Johnson blindly voted to fast track this deal and believes that when corporations ship Wisconsin jobs overseas, it's 'creative destruction.' Senator Johnson has voted for every trade deal that's come across his desk while in Washington. Johnson is now just hiding the ball with his re-election in mind."