Quote of the Day:

I’ve been very clear. I will not express an opinion until they have made a decision.

–Hillary Clinton

Is that clear?

If you ever doubted that a Hillary Clinton presidency would be a third term for President Obama, you only had to hear her transparently self-serving dodge on a question about the Keystone Pipeline XL, to know that it would.

President Obama has been delaying the pipeline for more than six years now, without quite saying yea or nay. So Mrs. Clinton is following in the footsteps of the master. Of course, she does say she will tell us when she’s president. Which is more than President Obama has done.

The Keystone Pipeline would provide thousands of jobs for Americans, and the unions are in favor of it. It has been studied extensively, may be the most studied project in American history, and it has been found that its impact on the environment would be negligible. Nevertheless, extreme environmentalists are not only against it but regard defeating it as one of their most important battles.

Caught between two constituencies, President Obama has refused to decide, pretending that just a bit more study is needed. The Financial Post gives an update:

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said U.S. delays in approving the Keystone XL pipeline are “not a hopeful sign” and reflect the “peculiar politics” of the Obama administration.

“A positive decision has not been rendered for a very long time, that’s obviously not a hopeful sign,” Harper said in an interview Wednesday at his Ottawa office, adding he discussed the matter recently with the U.S. president. “I think there’s very peculiar politics of this particular administration.”

U.S. President Barack Obama will reject the project in August, Republican Senator John Hoeven said Tuesday, citing unidentified “sources.” TransCanada Corp.’s proposed US$8 billion link between Alberta crude deposits and Gulf Coast refineries has been under review since 2008.

It is not often that the leader an ally refers to the “peculiar politics” of a friendly nation, but in this case Harper is more than justified. I had thought that, as galling as Mrs. Clinton’s answer was, it might have been an indication that, once elected, she would decide in favor of the much-vetted pipeline. After all, her husband was able to step back and allow the U.S. economy to thrive. It is looking like she would definitely not be Bill Clinton’s third term.

An editorial in today’s Wall Street Journal has some choice words on Mrs. Clinton’s cowardice:   

Keystone is now a yes-or-no political decision that pits an activist fringe that opposes all forms of carbon energy against jobs, prosperity, energy security and America’s relationship with an ally.

So perhaps Mrs. Clinton’s anti-answer was the only triangulation within reach. Most normal people, not to mention her donors who aren’t Tom Steyer, think Keystone is in the national interest. Meanwhile, she hopes the green left will abide her silence because of her recent proposal to pave the U.S. in solar panels and because they suspect she silently agrees with them.

Then again, Donald Trump was asked the other day about ObamaCare, which he promised to “repeal and replace with something terrific.” It’s not a good look when Mr. Trump is more specific, responsive and forthcoming about his platform than you are.