Which is why the version that cleared the Senate Finance Committee Wednesday is in many ways a Republican creation. And as long as Clinton is half-hearted about telling Democrats to join them, Republicans will likely sit on the bill.
In 1993, the in-control Democrats gave Clinton NAFTA largely because he was one of their own. But four years later the blessings of that agreement seem mixed, and opposition has hardened. The year wanes fast; if Republicans will not move unaccompanied, Clinton might find that securing the prize of his second term takes far longer than he imagined.