Democratic senators have publicly referred to congressional support for the Keystone XL Pipeline as “bipartisan.” But, very few mainstream news publications actually referred to Democrats’ support of the bill that would have given the project the green light after President Obama vetoed it Tuesday. The Washington Examiner,
Reports in the national newspapers, the Associated Press and CBS News framed the veto as a rebuke to a Republican-favored policy, though the bill passed with more than two dozen Democratic votes in the House and nine in the Senate. Two Democratic governors also support the bill.
Reporting on Obama’s veto, the New York Times called the pipeline “a symbol of the continuing struggle between environmentalists and conservatives,” adding, “Republicans insist that the pipeline will increase employment.” …
The Washington Post also downplayed bipartisan support for the bill in its report on Obama’s veto. “[The bill] gathered enough Democratic votes to prevent a filibuster [in the Senate], and with a Republican in the White House the bill would have become law,” the report said. Republicans only needed seven Democrats to join them in passing the bill, but they got nine.
