Without discussing the specifics of the trade agreement itself, of which I myself am ignorant, I have been fascinated by the political dynamics of the deal, both in the public sphere and in the halls of Washington.
The terms in parenthesis are my own descriptions, obviously. If you disagree, let's talk about it.
Within the Federal Government:
For:
The White House
Congressional Republican Leadership
Most Republicans in Congress (centrists/moderates to middle-right)
A significant minority of Democrats in Congress (centrists/moderates)
Against:
Congressional Democratic Leadership
A small minority of Republicans in Congress (far right/libertarian)
A majority of Democrats in Congress (centrists/moderates to far left/liberals)
In the public sphere:
For:
Moderate media (radio, television, print, internet)
Big business
Against:
Far-right media (talk radio, internet, commentary)
Far-left media (internet, commentary)
Most posters on this message board, on both sides.
Organized Labor
As I mentioned above, I personally don't know enough about the deal to make any sort of judgement on it. But the ways that I've seen posters discussing it has ranged from those on the left cheering for Warren and the Democrats for voting against it to those on the right claiming that essentially the entire Republican party are just puppets of Obama.
What explanations do you guys have for why this issue has built such odd coalitions? Why are Rand Paul, Jeff Sessions, Elizabeth Warren and Harry Reid voting together? Why are Mitch McConnell, Marco Rubio and President Obama all saying the same things to the press?
The terms in parenthesis are my own descriptions, obviously. If you disagree, let's talk about it.
Within the Federal Government:
For:
The White House
Congressional Republican Leadership
Most Republicans in Congress (centrists/moderates to middle-right)
A significant minority of Democrats in Congress (centrists/moderates)
Against:
Congressional Democratic Leadership
A small minority of Republicans in Congress (far right/libertarian)
A majority of Democrats in Congress (centrists/moderates to far left/liberals)
In the public sphere:
For:
Moderate media (radio, television, print, internet)
Big business
Against:
Far-right media (talk radio, internet, commentary)
Far-left media (internet, commentary)
Most posters on this message board, on both sides.
Organized Labor
As I mentioned above, I personally don't know enough about the deal to make any sort of judgement on it. But the ways that I've seen posters discussing it has ranged from those on the left cheering for Warren and the Democrats for voting against it to those on the right claiming that essentially the entire Republican party are just puppets of Obama.
What explanations do you guys have for why this issue has built such odd coalitions? Why are Rand Paul, Jeff Sessions, Elizabeth Warren and Harry Reid voting together? Why are Mitch McConnell, Marco Rubio and President Obama all saying the same things to the press?