WASHINGTON — It’s not exactly a political vise, but with a major trade deal looming, U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet is feeling pressure from both President Barack Obama, who wants it, and liberal allies, who want nothing more than to kill it.
How the Colorado Democrat navigates the debate — expected to begin Tuesday — could have long-range implications for his political future and a trade agreement among the U.S. and 11 Pacific Rim countries.
Central to the fight is a legislative package that would give Obama more authority to negotiate trade deals. He and many Republican lawmakers support the plan, but it faces opposition from Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and other Democrats.
Caught in the middle is Bennet.
He voted in April to pass the package out of the Senate Finance Committee and said Monday he likely would continue his support if protections for U.S. workers and the environment remain part of the deal.
“It’s very important we keep that intact,” he said. “They are, in my mind, intrinsically linked.”
Bennet’s stance, however, hasn’t been enough to assuage unions and eco-activists, who consider the “fast track” trade package a bad deal for U.S. workers and the planet.
They have lobbied against the measure and taken shots at traditional Democratic allies — including Bennet — as part of a campaign to kill the plan and the related trade deal, known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
“Senator Bennet just turned his back on Colorado’s working families,” read one online ad from the AFL-CIO that ran after Bennet supported the package in committee.
Friendly fire attacks
A similar tone was struck Monday by environmentalists with Food & Water Watch, who protested Bennet and fellow Democrat Jared Polis — who has taken heat before on the issue — at an event in Denver.
Sam Schabacker, western region director of the group, accused the two Colorado Democrats of putting their own political ambitions first.
“Why are they doing this?” Schabacker asked. “They want to move up in the Democratic party hierarchy.”
Implicit in these friendly fire attacks is the threat that unions and environmentalists might provide weak support for or even abandon Bennet in 2016, when the former chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is up for re-election.
The warning carries some weight. Environmentalists formed the backbone of fellow Democrat Mark Udall’s re-election bid last year, and unions have a reputation for robust get-out-the-vote efforts.
But Udall lost to Republican Cory Gardner in spite of the help. And Bennet’s stance on trade may be another sign he’s trying to carve out a position in the political center.
It’s a move that recalls his support of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline — a project opposed by environmentalists and Udall — and one that has its advantages in Congress and Colorado.
Back home, Bennet can tout votes such as the trade deal to bolster his standing as a moderate Democrat. In Washington, the position can strengthen his hand as he tries to extract concessions.
Notably, the trade package that came out of committee included several provisions co-sponsored by Bennet.
One amendment targets an economic trick used by some countries to unfairly weaken their currency. The practice can lead to a loss of U.S. jobs.
His provision would require the Treasury Department to better track foreign currencies. If manipulation is suspected, the administration would be empowered to take steps in retaliation.
“When you are manufacturing steel in Pueblo, it matters a lot whether China is manipulating their currency and whether or not the United States is enforcing the rules of the road,” Bennet said.
Though China is not among the 12 nations involved in the Pacific Rim trade deal, Obama and Bennet have argued the trade package could help check Beijing’s economic might by setting new standards in the region for labor and the environment.
“If we are unable to get a satisfactory deal done in this region, we are going to leave China to write these rules,” Bennet said.
Scrambling alliances
The currency debate, however, is just a small piece of a political fight that has scrambled some of the usual partisan fault lines — with Obama allying with top Republicans such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
A key issue is the way the U.S. does trade deals.
The White House wants the authority to negotiate the terms of a deal and then send the entire pact to Congress for approval.
This approach denies lawmakers the chance to amend the agreement and only gives them the opportunity to vote yes or no — a stipulation that is critical to preventing a deal from getting bogged down and likely killed in debate.
Beefy benefits
Obama is pursuing this path to help in gain passage of TPP, which is under negotiation and would lower tariffs and trade barriers among the U.S. and 11 other countries. Industries that face heavy tariffs overseas, including Colorado’s beef industry, would do well under the deal, say supporters.
The approach has garnered significant support among Senate Republicans and a few Democrats, but Reid has threatened to throw procedural hurdles in front of the measure, which is why the backing of Bennet and a handful of other Senate Democrats is considered crucial to passage.
Bennet is insisting, however, on several points.
He wants any deal to give the administration more authority to punish countries who do not comply with environmental protections laid out in trade deals. And he supports increased funding for a program that helps U.S. workers who become unemployed because of foreign trade.
The expectation is that the Senate likely will get at least part of the trade package through the upper chamber. But its fate is much more uncertain in the House, where liberal Democrats have joined in opposition with conservative Republicans — many of whom are wary of giving Obama more power.
The uncertainty has led to a flurry of advocacy.
Jeff Wasden, president of the Colorado Business Roundtable, said he supports Bennet on this issue.
“There are critics who will say (his stance) is politically motivated, but I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt,” Wasden said. “To his credit, he gets the importance of trade and exports to Colorado’s economy.”
Not surprisingly, support has been less enthusiastic among labor activists — though they are hardly among Bennet’s biggest financial backers.
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan campaign watchdog, Bennet has received about $274,000 in campaign contributions from the labor sector over the course of his political career. By comparison, the finance, insurance and real estate sector has given more than $3 million, according the group’s campaign database.
One Colorado union member said he was concerned about how the deal would affect wages and jobs back in the U.S.
“Right now, we’re pretty disappointed with Senator Bennet,” said Rodney Crow, an Aurora resident with United Steelworkers. “But more often than not, he has labor’s back.”
Mark K. Matthews: 202-662-8907, mmatthews@ denverpost.com or twitter.com/mkmatthews
