Obama Goes All In on Trade Deal Passage

President Barack Obama is all in. There's no couching or caution, no hedging or looking for escape valves. His decision to swing by the congressional baseball game last night, followed by his visit Friday morning to Capitol Hill to talk to House Democrats behind closed doors solidified that in the closing moments of congressional negotiations over his authority to negotiate trade deals, it is all on his shoulders.

This isn't exactly breaking news—the president and his team have made clear for months that this was one of (if not the) top policy target of his second term. But his push over the last few weeks has been a tactical shift. A president that has often eschewed the overt gestures identified in Washington as so central to relationships with with lawmakers has embraced them. In doing so, Obama has left himself completely open to the blame if the vote fails. His party holds the keys to whether he gets the fast-track authority his team says it needs to finalize the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. He's now positioned himself as the only one who can close the deal.