OUR REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT:

 As early as this week, Congress is expected to debate "fast-track" legislation that would give the administration more authority to complete a massive, 12-nation free trade pact in the Asia Pacific that Obama has called a cornerstone of his second term -- a way to ensure U.S. competitiveness in the face of a rising China.

It will mark a leadership test for the president, who has pledged to invest his waning political capital to woo skeptical Democrats. White House allies said the danger is that Republicans are supporting the president on trade in large part because they know it could divide Democrats going into an election year.

Obama's embrace of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) faces fierce opposition from some of his closest political allies and the organizational heart of the Democratic coalition: labor unions, environmental groups and the progressive wing of Congress. His critics on the left contend the pact would help American corporations in state-controlled foreign markets but would lead to job losses and exacerbate the growing income gap at home.

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