Priorities: State Department might delay decision on Keystone XL until after 2012 election

(By Tina Korbe, Hot Air) - In yet another large, symbolic show of stock celebrities and lively characters, tens of thousands of hand-holding protesters encircled the White House Sunday to express opposition to a proposed transnational oil pipeline. The gathering aimed to demonstrate to President Barack Obama that he has all the support he needs to reject a permit for the Keystone XL, which would flow south from the oil sands of Canada to the refineries of the Texas Gulf Coast — and, along the way, protesters say, potentially threaten the clean water supply of America’s heartland.

But the presence of thousands of people outside his house seems to have reminded the president of the opposite — of all the support he stands to lose if he approves the project that backers say will create jobs and reduce the nation’s dependence on the oil of unsavory nations like Saudi Arabia.

In many ways, Keystone XL is the ultimate contest between special interest groups. In one corner, the unlikely combination of TransCanada, the company behind the pipeline, and various unions that support the project because of the jobs it will create. In the other, environmentalists who fear an “inevitable” pipeline spill someday down the road.

The Obama campaign can’t afford to lose the support of either side. So, in typical slippery fashion, the administration seeks simply to delay a decision.