A Courageous Kind of Democrat By Kimberley A. Strassel
http://www.wsj.com/articles/a-courageous-kind-of-democrat-1434668177
Rep. Ron Kind of Wisconsin bucks his party by shepherding 28 Democrats into the free-trade camp.
Yes, Rep. Paul Ryan deserves a medal for his work to put fast-track trade legislation on President Obama’s desk. House Republicans delivered on that promise again Thursday, repassing a Trade Promotion Authority bill that would allow Mr. Obama to complete the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a pending trade pact with 11 Pacific nations.
Yet Republicans on their own could deliver bupkis. GOP leaders in the House always knew they would need close to 30 Democrats to get a deal done. So they turned to Mr. Ryan’s Badger State brother, Democratic Rep. Ron Kind.
Mr. Kind, as committed a free-trader as they come, took point on rounding up the 28 House Democrats who Thursday voted a second time in a week for TPA. These were the deciding votes, since the measure passed narrowly, 218-208.
“This last month was very intense, no doubt. But it was truly a wide, team effort,” Mr. Kind told me a few minutes after the victory. “Everyone in it understood we need a proactive trade agenda that benefits our workers and businesses and farmers.”
Those 28 Democrats are the unsung honor roll of this trade fight. For all the anxiety some Republicans expressed over their “yes” votes, they at least belong to the pro-trade party, backed by a broad coalition of free-market groups. The Kind Democrats, by contrast, were personae non gratae in their political camp, actively attacked for supporting a pro-growth strategy.
Big Labor waged an unprecedented hit job on this crew, pummeling them with TV ads in their districts. Months ago dozens of unions affiliated with the AFL-CIO instituted a freeze on campaign contributions, making clear that the coffers would only reopen after a fast-track vote, and only to those members who opposed it. It was effective. There are surely more than 28 House Democrats who understand the economic value of free trade. But it seems there are only 28 willing to put that ahead of union dollars.
And the Kind Democrats had little else by way of support or comfort. Mr. Obama, who should have been their greatest asset, managed to fumble the politics and give Democrats another excuse to say “no.” Nancy Pelosi rallied her party to sabotage the bill. The business community—which should have been outshouting and outspending Big Labor in support of these 28—was inexcusably meek.
Little of this fazed Mr. Kind, who is now in his 10th term and has been to the trade rodeo before. He has for some time run the New Democrat Coalition, a group of 40-odd House Democrats who are more centrist and pro-growth—and who have a particular focus on free trade. Many hail from coastal port states that rely on export business.
Those privy to the fast-track meetings and negotiations tell me that Mr. Kind’s strengths were his calm demeanor and ability to drive home logical policy arguments. In particular, he kept pointing out to colleagues that we already trade with most of the countries that will be in the Trans-Pacific Partnership. “The only question going forward is what are the rules going to be,” Mr. Kind tells me. “It can be our rules, no rules, or possibly China’s rules. When you cut through all the misinformation and rhetoric, those are the three choices that we face here.”
Mr. Kind and other influential Democratic free-traders—such as Oregon’s Earl Blumenauer, Texas’ Henry Cuellar, and Virginia’s Gerry Connolly—also, I’m told, provided inspiration to newer Democrats who’d never been through an ugly trade fight. The fact that the Kinds and Blumenauers, who have survived after being hit by Big Labor in the past, were leading this trade rally proved reassuring to newbies. It’s notable that a number of the 28 were freshmen or near-freshmen who are often most susceptible to outside threats. They included California’s Ami Bera and Scott Peters, Washington’s Suzan DelBene and Derek Kilmer, Nebraska’s Brad Ashford, and Oregon’s Suzanne Bonamici.
Despite all the talk of White House arm-twisting, sources tell me that pretty much every one of the Kind Democrats came to a “yes” vote on principle. That’s worth noting, because it provides a stunning contrast to the sizable number of Republicans who claim to be for free trade yet manufactured all manner of pathetic excuses to say “no.” When Jim DeMint (once a pro-trade Senate Republican) manages to conjure a reason for the Heritage Foundation (once among the most ardent defenders of trade) to oppose TPA, you know too many conservatives have abandoned principles for political theater.
If the Senate now succeeds in passing the House bill, President Obama will be on his way to finishing one of the world’s largest trade accords. In that case, the Kind Democrats will get to tell voters that they played a vital role in bringing home the new export business flowing through their states. It will be an honest brag.
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