This is the GOP attempt at being Machiavellian or something.
Here is what I believe they are thinking...
It is clear that, left to his own devices, O'Bama was going to do absolutely nothing about the Keystone situation until after the election. If he loses the election then it is someone else's problem. If he wins the election then he will sign the deal. The Dingus strategy is to 1) not anger his environutcase base by signing it before the election and 2) keep both sides of the issue donating campaign money to him in the meantime with the hope of influencing his position.
By putting a time limit on the decision the GOP hopes to throw a wrench into that strategy. If they simply force the deal through (if they even could) then the Dingus could rightfully claim that his hand was forced and maybe his base would be somewhat sympathetic and not desert him. This way the onus is on the Dingus to not vote present on the issue and ruin his strategy. He will piss off someone and see his opportunity for campaign cash on this issue lessened. Maybe lessened a lot.
If he approves Keystone the GOP has a victory, O'Bama loses some of his base and all of that campaign money disappears. After all, the enviros won't give anymore if they don't get their way and the Keystone backers won't give anymore if they win.
If he disapproves Keystone the GOP gets to use it as a club to beat him with and O'Bama loses the campaign cash from the Keystone backers. In fact, any Keystone money that was slated for the Dingus would then automatically shift to the GOP.
Meanwhile the GOP has a 50/50 chance of getting the deal through compared with a 0% chance if they allow President Zero to work his plan.
I don't know if this was their thinking or not but it's the only thing that makes sense to me. I also don't know if it is a good plan or not. Time will tell.
