Have Democrats Lost Their Mind Over Trade?

First Read: “Given that we live and breathe politics, we get disagreements over policy. But the vehemence coming from Democrats and Democratic groups over these trade votes is something we haven’t seen in the 6 ½ years of Obama’s presidency. Consider last month, when Sen. Sherrod Brown accused President Obama of being disrespectful to Elizabeth Warren by referring to her by her first name (even though he’s referred to Brown by his own first name). Consider yesterday, when anti-trade Rep. Rosa DeLauro accused House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of misreading her caucus on these votes. (Those are fighting words telling a leader that she is misreading her rank-and-file.) And now consider Howard Dean’s old Democracy for America outfit, which is threatening to primary any House Democrats who voted for the trade package…”

“Wow. One of the backstories here is organized labor. They’re not as influential or powerful as they once were (see Wisconsin), but thanks to gerrymandering, they still have plenty of influence INSIDE the Democratic Party.”