POLITICO: … Worried White House aides spent the last few weeks working behind the scenes to make sure they had the votes to sustain a veto [of the Keystone pipeline], rounding up enough Democrats willing to stand behind their lame-duck president and prevent him from being humiliated by an override…
A veto would come with political complications for Obama. Republicans are already pointing to the threat as more evidence of their narrative that he’s a dictatorial president who refuses to listen, even on an issue that has enormous support in public opinion polls. Supportive Democrats, though, say they’re eager to see the president dig in and concentrate more on fighting than compromising.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) setting Keystone as the first order of business for the new session, with fast passage through the House expected Friday, was part of a GOP attempt to undercut Obama quickly, and devastatingly, even before he got to his State of the Union address: He’d either have to concede on approving a project he has resisted and his base hates, or kick off his promised era of bipartisan cooperation with what would be only his third veto ever… (more)
