John Kasich

Ohio Gov. John Kasich speaks with reporters in the White House Briefing Room. "I think we now have a great opportunity to put country in front of politics," he said.

(Carolyn Kaster, Associated Press)

WASHINGTON - Ohio Gov. John Kasich today joined President Barack Obama's effort to push Congress to approve a sweeping Pacific Rim trade deal that has appeared doomed for months. Kasich went so far as to meet with Obama at the White House, then address reporters there on the Trans Pacific Partnership.

In the grandiose building that Kasich not long ago hoped to occupy after the election, the governor pushed what he called the economic benefits of free trade, but he focused just as heavily on geopolitical and national security politics. China and Russia - repressive regimes that are not parties to the trade deal -- are trying to gain leverage in the Pacific, Kasich said.

A failure of the United States to come to trade terms with such nations as Vietnam could give China and Russia leverage and cast a shadow on the United States' ability to keep its commitments, Kasich said.

Complicated politics? You bet. And calculated, too.

Here's what's going on.

What are the politics?

Obama is a Democrat, Kasich a Republican. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump opposes the 12-nation deal, commonly referred to as TPP. So does Democrat Hillary Clinton -- as do Ohio's two U.S. senators, Republican Rob Portman and Democrat Sherrod Brown.

But that's not all. Another critic is the man leading the U.S. Senate, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. He said less than a month ago that the next president can renegotiate the Pacific deal, signaling he has no intention of bringing it to a vote this year. Unless both McConnell and his House counterpart, Speaker Paul Ryan, put the deal before the current Congress, it is dead under the current administration.

Can't the next president pick it up and push it for a new Congress?

He or she could. But since neither Clinton nor Trump like the Trans Pacific Partnership, that's a gamble, and Kasich said it'd be best not to take that bet.

"I'd love to think it could happen next year," Kasich said. "(But) I'm not convinced it can happen after this year."

So what's Kasich want, besides a change of mind from opponents?

He is playing a part in Obama's strategy to get Congress to ratify the deal after the November election but before the current session of Congress expires at year's end. He said he believes a lot of the current opposition is political, and that certainly won't change before the election. But during a lame-duck session, political points aren't as important.

What's the deal about, anyway?

The Trans Pacific Partnership spells out a set of proposed rules governing imports and exports between the United States, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Vietnam, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Peru, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore. These countries already import and export goods and services with one another, but under their own rules and tariff schedules.

Uniform rules under the multi-country trade deal would end disparities and remove economic and policy barriers that now can make it advantageous for one country to restrict another country's exports, proponents say. And global trade can help promote pro-market reforms - and even greater religious and civil liberties -- in restrictive countries, Kasich and other proponents say.

What could be wrong with that?

There are two levels of criticism. One is of a general nature: While past trade deals have opened foreign borders to exports from the United States, they also have helped speed the movement of jobs to lower-wage countries. This may have provided less expensive goods for American consumers, but it had a steep employment toll. It's time for a time-out, goes this argument.

The other criticism is more specific: The Trans Pacific Partnership fails to block the ability of countries to manipulate the value of their currencies, a backdoor way of underpricing their products for competitive advantage. Certain cutting-edge medicines called biologics would lose a degree of their market exclusivity in foreign markets; they'd get eight years of patent protection instead of the 12-year standard honored in the United States, arguably undercutting the investment that companies put into developing the drugs. And while the deal has been promoted as loosening restrictions on U.S. auto imports in Asia, it does too little to make sure that American-made cars are actually made with American parts.

As Portman said in February: "From currency manipulation, to rules of origin for automobiles, to protection for US biologics -- we can do better."

So does Kasich disagree with Portman, a friend with whom has shared mutual political support?

On this, yes.

"He's always been a free trader," Kasich said when asked about Portman during a separate interview with reporters outside the West Wing. Portman, in fact, was this nation's trade ambassador under President George W. Bush.

Kasich said he knows of Portman's past concern with currency manipulation by China, a concern Kasich said he shares. But otherwise, he said, he has never discussed specific criticisms of this deal with Portman.

"If he actually had a vote on it in a lame-duck, I don't know how he would vote, and I've never really discussed it with him, but he's always been pretty much a free trader," Kasich said. He added that "a lot of people" have particular objections to this agreement, "and those need to be addressed" by Obama.

Critics say that under the deadlines of the deal and corresponding legislation, it would be difficult to renegotiate with the other 11 nations. Kasich, however, said, "Napoleon I think marched across Europe in about a week, so I think we have plenty of time."

What advice did Kasich have for Obama?

"I gave him a significant amount of things that I think can help him to pass this but I don't think I need to get into it. Other than to make sure that he meets with people that are strong opponents, listens to them and talks to them about the national security implications.

"If you have conservative Republicans that are worried about this agreement, I understand that on the trade front. But when it comes to the national security issues of us being able to be strong in Asia, vis-a-vis our turning our back on those countries, which really works to the advantage of both Russia and China, it's not very smart."

How would that play to their advantage?

"You turn your back on these countries that really want to believe that America is going to stand with them and all of a sudden we go out the door? The pressure to work with a force out there that at times can be bullying is significant."

Who else met with Obama?

Today's meeting included New York businessman and former mayor Michael Bloomberg; former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson; Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards; IBM president and CEO Virginia Rometty; Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, and former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Admiral James Stavridis.

Only Kasich and Reed addressed reporters at a session afterward. Reed emphasized the economic benefits of the Pacific deal, saying it will affect 40 percent of the global economy and about a third of all foreign trade, boosting jobs big and small.

Were there political overtones to Kasich's involvement?

Kasich, a former congressman, said he is perplexed with today's refusal of politicians to cross party lines for the good of the country.

"There's plenty of things that I disagree with President Obama on," he said. "But the idea that I'm a Republican and therefore I can't work with Democrats, or you're a Democrat and you can't work with Republicans -- how does anybody think that the issues of debt, Social Security, Medicare, health care, any of these issues are going to be resolved when we spend all of our time fighting with one another?"

He added that despite his own disagreements with Obama, "I happen to agree with him strongly on this thing."

What about unspoken overtone?

They were obvious.

Kasich, one of the last Republican presidential nominees standing, did more than visit the White House today. He penned a related op-ed for the Wall Street Journal ("A vote against trade is a vote against growth"). He made an advance appearance Thursday night on CNN. His campaign organization, Kasich for America, sent email Thursday night with a message from the governor, asking supporters to read his op-ed and share it on Facebook and Twitter.

All of these, plus a briefing for the White House press corps, keep Kasich's name in the national news. Kasich has two years left as governor but he and supporters show ambition for a White House run in 2020, and the fact that he is a Republican crossing party lines is lost on no one, least of all those hoping for a different kind of candidate. When asked by CNN's Dana Bash Thursday night about possible backlash from meeting with the president, a Democrat, Kasich said: "I welcome the fact that people will criticize me for putting my country ahead of my party."