WASHINGTON — In the end, even a handwritten note and a call from President Barack Obama weren’t enough to convince Democrat Ed Perlmutter of Colorado that he should support Obama’s push to get a major trade bill through Congress.
On Friday, Perlmutter joined with most of his Democratic colleagues in opposing legislation that would have given Obama more power to negotiate global trade deals — authority seen as critical to passage of an upcoming Asian trade agreement.
The measure passed anyway, by a 219-211 margin with mostly Republican support.
Even so, it didn’t matter. Democrats helped kill a linked piece of legislation by a 302-126 vote, thus sinking both bills. Perlmutter did vote with the pro-Obama minority on that action.
For weeks, Perlmutter was torn on the trade authority bill — caught between union opposition and the White House argument that the trade package would help Colorado industries such as beef and agriculture.
In conversations with Obama and his staff, Perlmutter said he would be more inclined to support the trade legislation if it were paired with improvements to infrastructure, including highways.
The suggestion prompted Obama to send Perlmutter a handwritten note in which he pledged to work “the infrastructure agenda hard in the coming months.”
Obama also phoned Perlmutter last month. The point of the call was trade, but Obama spent five minutes chit-chatting with Perlmutter’s father, Leonard, who was with the congressman for lunch.
The personal touch wasn’t enough, however, as Perlmutter ultimately voted against giving Obama the trade authority he wanted.
“Though the president has made a good case, I wanted to honor the promises and commitments I had made in the past” such as labor agreements, Perlmutter said.
