Clinton caught in the middle on free trade

As the Senate prepares to take a key vote, Hillary Clinton must decide how to weigh in on the issue that is dividing the Democrats: free trade.

Progressive Democrats are urging Clinton to oppose a trade agreement with Asian nations, saying free trade winds up shipping U.S. jobs overseas.

President Obama and aides, meanwhile, want Clinton's support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, saying the deal will generate jobs and growth in all of the involved countries.

As The New York Times puts it:

The Senate is debating a bill on "trade promotion authority," giving Obama the ability to develop a final agreement with Asian partners and submit it to lawmakers for an up-or-down vote without amendments.

Among the senators who are pressuring Clinton to oppose free trade: Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who is challenging Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., whom supporters want to run for president.

In an interview with NPR, Warren said of the proposed free-trade agreement: “That’s a tilted process, and a tilted process yields a tilted result.”