But even if the chances of success are small, the more the White House presses the issue, the more it isolates the ideologues from the pragmatists, and the more it separates the right wing from business donors.

As Paul Taylor, who follows immigration for Pew Research, puts it: “It’s better politics if the president wins, but it’s still good politics if he loses.”

Rebalance foreign policy.

For years the administration has talked of “rebalancing” our military strategy to address an increasingly assertive China. The Pentagon, liberated from Iraq and drawing down in Afghanistan, has taken some modest steps in this direction, deploying more of the Navy to Asia, devoting more resources to China’s space and cyber threats. But our rivalry with China is not, and should never be, primarily military. We need to compete on the fields of economics and diplomacy. Unfortunately the civilian custodians of our foreign policy have been bogged down in the Middle East, a region that matters a lot, but not as much as it did when we were more dependent on imported oil.

In the Middle East, Obama is now pretty much where he wants to be — jaw-jaw, not war-war, as Churchill liked to say — and that is clearly where the American people prefer him to be. Talks (hopeful) are underway to rid Syria of chemical weapons and (less hopeful) to find a diplomatic end to that country’s civil war. There is fitful progress in the talks aimed at testing whether Iran’s new president has the will and the authority to put a verifiable lid on that country’s nuclear program. Talks are taking place on the eternal conundrum of Israel’s coexistence with the Palestinians. Success at any of those tables would be a blessing to humanity and a great lift for the president.

But while diplomats are patiently tending these negotiations, there is time to pay attention to unfinished Asia business. The biggest item awaiting some Washington juice is the Trans-Pacific Partnership, an immense, stalled, Asian free-trade agreement that would do more to counter burgeoning China than any number of battleships.

Like most free-trade agreements, it has opposition, from critics who fear it would insufficiently protect labor, consumers, the environment and intellectual property. It’s time for the administration to cut some deals, crack some heads and open up those Asian markets.

Forget the Grand Bargain. Go for little bargains.

The idea of a grand fiscal bargain — a megadeal that wins bipartisan support on the whole complex of spending, taxes and entitlements — was all the rage a year ago, but it has passed its sell-by date. Not only has it proven politically unattainable as long as the House is in thrall to a band of least-government ideologues, it has also been overtaken by reality. Even relatively conservative economists concede that the deficit — a very sustainable 4 percent of gross domestic product — is not the problem, at least not in the foreseeable future. There is a distant problem for Social Security and Medicare as my baby-boom generation retires, and it would be nice to address it before young Americans find the cupboard bare. But the immediate and urgent problems are sluggish growth and too few jobs.