The President's continuing advocacy on behalf of the Trans-Pacific trade deal has had me puzzled, stumped, bewildered, scratching my head...until a few minutes ago. It has seemed unlike him and especially atypical of the agenda he has been pursuing in his second term.
Stay with me as I jump way, way off the conclusion ledge into a big pillow of Obama bewitchment and 11-dimensional chess.
The president is a lawyer, good enough to teach the subject at one of the nation's top law schools. He has chosen to advocate for his client to the best of his abilities, having taken on industry and the deal's sponsors as his clients. The question we lay folk want to ask a lawyer is, do you believe your client is right? And the answer is always, it doesn't matter.
In this case, I am starting to think that BHO is advocating for his client loudly and long, but outside the courtroom, he isn't bound to his clients' interests.
Here's the punchline -- I am thinking the president is using his advocacy to keep the issue in play for Democratic candidates. He's not running for anything, doesn't need votes. By continuing to push TPP, and making it personal, he's giving Dems a lot of opportunities to blast away on behalf of Americans' real interests. The leaks? Easy. Pouring gas on the fire. If the fire dies down a bit, the president just makes another statement advocating the deal. Dems go nuts, pick up a bunch of headlines defending America, and frame 2016 any old way they want.
If Republicans want to run against the President for the next 18 months, he'll make it tough on them, taking their positions just often enough for the Dems to dominate the news cycles, and advocating for his interests that are extremely popular in between.
I like my story.
I hope it's true.