Obama the ‘reluctant campaigner’

In an exclusive interview with Yahoo News national political columnist Matt Bai, President Barack Obama explains why he is campaigning so vigorously for his proposed Pacific Trade deal. Obama tied the deal’s success to that of the American middle class and the country’s ability to compete and “win anywhere in the world.” While Obama believes just as strongly in a higher minimum wage, stronger protections for workers and other issues such as immigration, the trade deal is a rare policy where there is “some convergence with Republicans.”

When I believe strongly in something, then I enjoy fighting for it. And I believe in this…And I think what’s also attracting attention is the fact that we might actually get this done.

President Barack Obama to Yahoo Politics

His prospects for passing any kind of larger agenda went from slim to nearly nonexistent last November, when he got a brand-new Republican Senate to go along with an obstreperous Republican House. And with a chaotic presidential campaign about to start in earnest, any real governing from here on out will be purely accidental. The trade deal, though, represents a rare and probably final opportunity for Obama to accomplish something big, and something in which he’s deeply invested. To a president eyeing his legacy, that kind of victory is worth a lot, writes Yahoo Politics’ Matt Bai.

Politics Obama trade deal