Free Republic

Washington — Chances are that Republican Bill Cassidy doesn’t consult an actual game plan that spells out how he can unseat Democrat Mary Landrieu in the U.S. Senate race in Louisiana that will be decided Dec. 6. But if he were doing so, it could read something like this: For the Nov. 4 open primary, establish a position as the best-financed, mainstream Republican candidate to fend off any tea party challenge.

Sen. Mary Landrieu’s (D) campaign in the Louisiana Senate runoff election has fallen flat. The endangered Democrat’s “Hail Mary” effort to convince the Senate to approve the Keystone pipeline failed, undercutting her argument that she should be returned to the Senate for her clout. She's fallen back on an advertising strategy that seeks to portray her GOP opponent, Rep. Bill Cassidy (La.), as bumbling and incompetent. But nearly three weeks into their final faceoff, it is Cassidy who is ahead in the polls, and Democrats who are worried that Landrieu’s efforts are falling short. “It didn’t work before, and if...

Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) has opened up a 15-point lead over incumbent Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) in their runoff race, according to a new poll from conservative-leaning Rasmussen. Cassidy takes 56 percent support in the poll to Landrieu’s 41. It’s the second poll released this week by a conservative outlet to show Cassidy with a double-digit lead. A Vox Populi poll released on Wednesday showed Cassidy with an 11-point lead. The Rasmussen survey shows that Landrieu’s efforts to pass a bill authorizing the Keystone pipeline may have done little to sway voters in the energy-rich state. While 70 percent of...

In the brutal closing scene of the 2007 film “There Will Be Blood,” a bowling alley beating, set in motion by years of tension and personal torment, concludes with the final biting words, “I’m finished.” Sifting through the wreckage on the Senate floor last week, the same words could have come from Louisiana’s Mary Landrieu. Forty-one of her Democrat colleagues ruthlessly beat down her proposal to approve the Keystone pipeline, effectively sealing her fate in the December runoff election to keep her seat. Keeping a brave face, Landrieu insisted she held no one to blame and only felt “joy in...

When it came time for the US Senate to vote on the Keystone XL Pipeline, Sen. Mary Landrieu’s (D-LA) “clout” did not have much of an impact on fellow Democrat senators. In fact, 35 of the senators who voted against the project were given campaign cash by Landrieu since the 2008 election cycle. Take a look here at the list of senators who don’t seem to acknowledge Landrieu’s “clout.” Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) $10,000 Sen. Richard Blumenthal (R-CT) $5,000 Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) $10,000 Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) $7,000 Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) $10,000 Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) $3,500 Sen....

Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana is the last Democrat up for election in 2014 following a GOP wave that swept eight of her colleagues out of office in November. She is increasingly facing it alone as she readies for a Dec. 6 runoff against her Republican opponent, Rep. Bill Cassidy. The campaign arm of the Senate Democrats withdrew $2 million in reserved ad time in the state immediately after Election Day, Nov. 4. The Senate Majority PAC, which spent more than $2.4 million on Landrieu’s behalf in the general, has not spent a single dollar in the past week, according...

Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) has opened up an 11-point lead over incumbent Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) in their runoff race for Senate, according to a new survey from Republican polling outlet Vox Populi. The poll finds Cassidy with a 53-42 lead over Landrieu, with 5 percent undecided. That’s up from Cassidy’s 48 to 44 edge in the same poll in October. Cassidy is crushing Landrieu 58 to 31 among independents in the state. In addition, the poll found that Landrieu’s efforts to pass the Keystone pipeline during the lame duck session may have backfired — 39 percent said it made...

There’s a very simple way for her to get beyond the embarrassment of yesterday’s failed vote to authorize the Keystone XL pipeline, where 41 of her 54 Senate Democrat colleagues essentially flipped her the bird and voted against it despite being told ad nauseam that either they did so or they’d be consigning her to electoral demise in Louisiana’s Dec. 6 runoff. The answer is to get out of the race, and concede it to Bill Cassidy. The sooner the better. The fact is, the Keystone XL vote had very little to do with Landrieu’s electability. The idea that getting...

Harry Reid personally voted against Landrieu and screwed his own party. Checking the Roll Call this morning, Harry Reid's vote is Nay. Why did he allow the vote (since he rules the Senate with an iron fist) and then vote against her and ruin her chances in Louisiana? Nothing short of the Bills passage would have saved her down there. She's too little to late now and the union jobs are being pooched. And Obama stands above it all to pooch the Union jobs with a veto promise. This might have been the last chance for the Democrat Party (notice...

The 59-41 Senate vote was just shy of the 60 votes needed to pass the bill, following a dramatic six days of whipping by the embattled Louisiana Democrat on an issue that almost all of Washington had expected to sit idle until next year. The defeat deals a blow to Landrieu’s campaign ahead of her Dec. 6 runoff against GOP Rep. Bill Cassidy, whom polls show running comfortably ahead.

The Senate narrowly rejected legislation to authorize the Keystone XL pipeline on Tuesday, handing a defeat to the oil industry and dealing a major blow to Louisiana Democrat Mary Landrieu, who staked her political career on the outcome. The Senate voted 59-41 for the legislation, falling one vote shy of the 60 needed for passage under the deal bringing it to the floor. But Keystone supporters insisted the defeat would be short-lived. Republican leaders are vowing to try again after they take over the chamber in January — when they will have more than enough votes to get a measure...

About two dozen protesters against the Keystone XL pipeline turned out in bleak weather Monday morning outside Sen. Mary Landrieu’s Washington home to protest her quest for a bill supporting the $8 billion project, which is set for a vote Tuesday. The demonstrators who showed up for a mass chant of “Stop this pipeline” and “No KXL” targeted Landrieu, rather than the pipeline’s other vocal backers in both parties, in part as a warning to Democrats against going wobbly on Keystone. They also unfurled a mock inflatable pipeline. “I don’t understand that, why she’s selling herself out, why she can’t...

Will it or won't it pass? Stay tuned..

Human Events-Gravis Marketing conducted a random survey of 643 likely voters regarding opinions of races in Louisiana. The poll carries a margin of error of 4%. The poll was conducted 11-12-2014-11-14-2014 The polls were conducted using automated telephone calls and weighted by anticipated voting demographics.

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and other supporters of the Keystone XL oil pipeline are stuck at 59 votes — one vote shy of the supermajority they need to move their bill forward on Tuesday. Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) said Monday that they would vote against moving forward with the legislation, making it unclear whether supporters had a path to the magic number of 60. Rockefeller had appeared to be one of the last possible converts Monday evening, and supporters were pressuring the retiring senator to join their side. But he told reporters on Monday that he...

Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu is denouncing an attack ad against her as being sexist because it shows her aging. The ad, paid for by the Ending Spending Action Fund, suggests Washington has changed Landrieu, 58, over time and uses the age progression to illustrate that change. Landrieu campaign spokesperson Fabien Levy called the ad "appalling." He said it's an example of Republican challenger Rep. Bill Cassidy and his allies distracting from the issues. "It is appalling that Congressman Cassidy and his allies would illustrate the senator's age progression with a leading phrase that Washington has 'changed' her," Levy said. "The...

…courtesy of our friend Rick Shaftan, who is cataloguing the demagoguery on the airwaves this cycle. (AUDIO/VIDEO-AT-LINK)The ad says the stock market was at an “all-time low” before Barack Obama took over as president, among other things. It’s worth commenting that this ad isn’t running in a broader market, where the ridiculous claims and hyperbolic tone would engender a more negative reaction. Landrieu’s campaign doesn’t want that kind of scrutiny. We can expect a good deal more of this, as it’s the calling card of Landrieu’s campaign boss Ryan Berni. Berni had this to say to Gannett after Sarah Palin...

Energy Transport: New data show fast-rising rail shipments from North Dakota's Bakken shale formation and the need for a safer alternative to rail — like the Keystone XL pipeline. In his post-election press conference, the president noted in justifying his continual kicking of the Keystone XL oil drum down the road that "while this debate about Canadian oil has been raging ... we've seen some of the biggest increases in American oil production and natural gas production in our history." That increase is due in large part to oil recovered from the Bakken shale formation centered on North Dakota. So...

The Republican unity tour with former rivals Rep. Bill Cassidy and Rob Maness will continue Saturday (Nov. 15) afternoon with a rally featuring the two of them, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and "Duck Dynasty" star Phil Robertson. . . . Landrieu pulled just 18 percent of the white vote in the primary, but earned 94 percent of the African-American vote. Landrieu campaign insiders believe there are more gains to be made in the African-American community, and they believe they can pick up more votes by keeping the race about Louisiana, not President Barack Obama as Cassidy has done.

Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson isn’t backing down from his conservative beliefs. In fact, he and his family played host to controversial conservative icon Sarah Palin at the Robertson home this weekend as they all stumped for a Republican candidate. The Robertsons and Palin are trying to get out the vote for Bill Cassidy, who is involved in a runoff campaign for a contested Louisiana Senate seat. Palin gleefully posted four pictures on her Facebook account of her and husband Todd posing with Phil, his wife Kay, and Jep Robertson. The former GOP VP candidate added a gushing caption, “Thanks...