How an Obama veto on Keystone XL could be good for bipartisanship – State Column

The Keystone XL pipeline just might transport enough oil to grease the wheels of bipartisanship in what is otherwise a gridlocked Nation's Capitol, if President Obama is willing to get his hands dirty.

Throughout his first six years, Obama has not fully embraced his transition from the Legislative to the Executive branch. The White House moved in lockstep with Harry Reid (D-NV), the then senate Majority Leader. Reid withheld legislation that could have passed to spare embarrassment for both the party and the White House. As a result, Obama has only utilized his veto power twice. However, with a little political savvy and his signature, Obama may be able to unite the country with the same fervor as he did in 2008.

To give some context regarding how ridiculous that number is, the last president to have fewer than two vetoes during his tenure was James A. Garfield (0), who was assassinated seven months into his term. After that you need to go back to Abraham Lincoln (2). When factoring out assassinated presidents, the most recent comparison is Millard Fillmore, the original lame duck president.

With the threat of Keystone XL pipeline actually getting through Congress, Obama has been rattling the saber. During the State of the Union, Obama threatened to use his third through seventh vetoes on impending bills (the number of veto threats actually set a record), one of which was the Keystone XL pipeline.

Although the Keystone XL pipeline legislation seemed reached another impasse Monday when Democrats blocked a vote to limit debate on the bill before holding the final vote, Republicans vow to continue press the issue.

The House of Representatives has already passed legislation, but their brethren in the Senate are caught up on the 12 amendments attached to it. An initial vote in the Senate yielded 63 yeas, three more than the necessary amount to break a filibuster (yet four less than the amount to override a veto).

If Obama is forced to use his veto, Democrats can exchange votes to break the veto as a show of good faith for future compromises. It could be the opportunity Congress needs to sit down with cigars in the back rooms and fill them with smoke. Now that there is no synced strategy between the two branches, Democrats now reap the benefits of being indisposable to the Republicans in their crusade against the president.

A savvy presidential veto from Obama may finally unite the country– against himself.