TPA approval will require the Democratic Party elites to stand up to organized labor and the protectionists, much the way Main Street Republicans have begun to push back against the Tea Party. Trade Policy Football The U.S. is in an inferior trade policy position. It has lower average tariffs due to concessions made decades ago when America was nearly a third of the global economy and much of the rest of the world was poor. The U.S. also has more transparent and systems-based regulatory requirements. Newer trade agreements help level the playing field for the U.S., while also giving it leverage to achieve more common rules on labor, environment, intellectual property protection, etc. So how can President Obama have trouble selling this to...