Prepare to hear more from the presidential candidates about worker retraining.

In the run up to the Ohio Democratic primary, both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama criticized U.S. trade deals and proposed renegotiating NAFTA. Why? Because the American middle class is nervous. A March 3, 2008 survey by Lake Research Partners found that 71% of voters believe it is has become harder to achieve the American dream. 32% of voters found the economy and jobs to be the top issue in the election, twice the number (16%) who selected the war in Iraq as the key issue. Lake's research found that the highest rated cornerstone of the American dream rested upon having a job that pays enough to support a family. The perception that globalization threatens family economic well-being, real or perceived, echoes around the kitchen tables of many American families. Recent fears of recession, foreclosure, and a credit crunch exacerbate these worries.

On March 27, Senator Clinton announced a proposal to invest $12.5 billion over five years in workforce development and to increase the range of assistance to all jobseekers, regardless whether their jobs are lost solely due to their jobs being exported overseas

Now as Clinton may exit the race and the general election begins to focus in on Obama and McCain, will those two candidates pick up the worker retraining mantle? We think they will.
Given his natural forward-looking nature and his record in the Senate, one could see a President Obama focusing on worker retraining.

Senator McCain has spoken on the campaign trail about the need for more retraining of workers at a level he has not previously. In a March 24, 2008 Washington Post editorial, McCain's senior policy advisor included modernizing unemployment insurance and training programs as a critical component to McCain's plan to turn around the economy. It is significant for a GOP presumptive-nominee to elevate worker retraining to that level. With the likely attention on economic issues in the general election, McCain is likely to discuss worker retraining at a level not typically seen by GOP candidates.
Within the comments of the three candidates are the seeds of bipartisan compromise on trade and workforce development.

Most Republicans want to continue the expansion of trade deals with other countries to open new markets. Congress is in no mood to support new deals without stronger protections for workers.
Most Democrats are looking to appeal to middle class angst about job insecurity and globalization.
Between these two needs, we see a grand bargain - continued trade deals but a larger federal role in job training and income support.

Workforce development is an area that has been under the radar for the past few years. Efforts to reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), the federal umbrella law for job training programs, have been stymied. However, Congress is now on the verge of expanding trade adjustment assistance (the aid given to workers who lose their jobs because of global trade). WIA reauthorization, unemployment insurance reform, wage insurance and trade adjustment assistance reform are ripe issues for the next president and Congress to discuss and address.
Federal spending on worker training has fallen dramatically over the past generation to the lowest spending per capita among the major industrialized nations.
That may well change. The grand bargain between the parties could be continued free trade but significantly more worker retraining funding.

The rhetoric of candidates against NAFTA may partly reflect the heat of the campaign, but also reflects the economic insecurity of workers in states where the job losses from economic transformation have been substantial and continue.

The anxiety is real. Yet globalization is a reality. America needs to continue trading with the world. America also needs to help its displaced workers secure family supporting jobs.

Continuing trade while simultaneously making real investments in our workforce, particularly for those hardest hit by the transition to a global economy, is a compact with the American people that the presidential candidates are showing signs of embracing. It's a bargain they should embrace--- the hopes of many families trying to achieve the American dream are counting on it.

David Gray directs the Workforce and Family Program at the New America Foundation in Washington. John Colbert is now a partner at the government relations firm of Moss, McGee, Bradley and Colbert and Senior Counsel at the National Center on Education and the Economy.