You can cynically suggest she deliberately did this on a day when the Pope’s arrival in the US blotted out the sky, and that could be true. But on the other hand, Hillary Clinton announced her opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline in Iowa, where not even the Pope is more important than presidential nominating contest developments.
The step was also well-timed in that it comes on the heels of some relatively good polling news for Clinton (both the CNN/ORC survey I wrote about yesterday and a new PPP poll of Iowa with similarly positive numbers). So it cannot be chalked up to some panicky reaction to Sanders momentum.
It’s also possible HRC’s move was a sign Obama will ultimately take the same position. That is not in the cards when it comes to the other issue on which Clinton will continue to be under pressure on the campaign trail: the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. For that matter, there’s not going to be another papal visit this year to stomp on the story, though there’s always the possibility of a seven-game World Series.
