THE WHITE HOUSE IS trying to revive the Doha Round trade talks, but the Wall Street Journal (free link) reports that it’s an uphill battle. The “Lou Dobbs Democrats” are a problem, but other Democrats are siding with the Bush Administration: “Some old-line Democrats, such as Rep. Charles Rangel of New York and Montana Sen. Max Baucus, could emerge as allies of the administration and its free-trade agenda. The two lawmakers, who will take over the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee, respectively, share traditional Democratic concerns, but have records that support free trade. This past weekend, they joined Republicans to rally support in Congress for a Bush-backed trade package, which included legislation lifting Cold War-era economic restrictions on Vietnam.”

Larry Kudlow was pretty harsh last night, saying that Lou Dobbs and Pat Buchanan are idiots, as are all protectionists. I’m inclined to agree, but I’m not sure the polity does.

UPDATE: Link was bad before, fixed now. Sorry!