Cheerleading for Trade Agreements

Attempts to raise the public support for trade agreements (even for some of the best ones) sometimes takes surreal forms. Here’s one example:

May I propose the following 21st century standards on public diplomacy and trade?

1. Never assume your counterparts are dumber than you are, just because they are not Rhodes scholars.

2. A barbershop choir is a sure way of swaying protectionists. But only if the protectionists are playing croquet on the west bank of the Mills River,  New Haven, while quoting Walt Whitman.