Strange as it may seem, Barack Obama has much in common with the storied matchmaker of Jewish legend. This Polish entrepreneur announced to the poverty-stricken rabbi of a poverty-stricken Polish town that she had found a match for his even more poverty stricken, unattractive son – no less than the queen of England. The Rabbi refused to consent to the match on the grounds that the queen was not Jewish. But the matchmaker persisted, and over time wore the rabbi down with tales of the advantages of such a match to his flock. “Phew,” announced the relieved matchmaker, “That’s half the job.”

After years of negotiations, Barack Obama persuaded eleven other Pacific Rim Countries, including Mexico, Canada, and Australia, to sign on to trade- and investment-opening Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). That’s half the job. Now he has to persuade enough congressional members of his own party to join a majority of Republicans in ratifying the deal. That won’t be easy, thanks to Hillary Clinton’s recent proof of a statement attributed to Harry Truman, “If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.”