Obama pushes to expand international trade, increase minimum wage

President Barack Obama rallied Senate Democrats behind his election-year agenda on Wednesday, even privately urging senators to “keep your powder dry” on his push to expand international trade despite the strong opposition from many leading Democrats, according to several people at the closed-door session.

At a roughly two-hour meeting at Nationals Park, Obama repeatedly emphasized his goal to keep the Senate in Democratic control in the 2014 midterms, promising to do whatever he can to help his party stay in the majority, attendees said.

He noted that his agenda stands a better chance of advancing if a majority of the Senate Democratic Caucus gets behind his proposals, whether it’s to increase the minimum wage to $10.10 or expand job training opportunities.

And despite the opposition of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and other top Democrats to his trade agenda, Obama argued that his push would expand access into untapped markets, including in Asia, and urged his fellow Democrats to keep an open mind on the effort.

But Reid has little desire to advance a proposal to fast-track the two largest trade deals in U.S. history — in the Pacific Rim and European Union.

Despite the disagreement, the meeting at the annual Senate Democratic retreat was the latest effort by the president and Senate Democrats to bolster their coordination after several rocky years of intraparty squabbles and ahead of a difficult election year. Sources who attended the meeting described it as generally drama free.

“The president vowed to do what he can to support Democratic candidates in the midterm elections,” according to a person in the room. Politico