Topic: Politics & Elections
Sure, if you pay attention to American politics cynical calculation, two-facedness and plain dishonesty seem barely worthy of remark. But some cases are so glaring that they can’t be overlooked. Such a one is the Keystone pipeline conversion of Senator Mary Landrieu, Democrat of Louisiana. Since no one gained a 50%+1 majority in the state's three-way midterm Senate race, Landrieu finds herself facing off against her main GOP challenger, Congressman Bill Cassidy, in a runoff election to be held in December. As things stand at the moment Cassidy is favored to win, providing Republicans with a ninth Senate pickup.
President Obama is highly unpopular in the Pelican State and this hurts Landrieu who like all Senate Democrats has been his loyal and craven enabler since 2009. A particularly sore point is energy policy, e.g. the Obama Administration’s opposition to the Keystone pipeline, a project whose completion would greatly benefit Louisiana’s economy. So what’s an embattled incumbent to do? Well! You’d never know it from her past record but Senator Landrieu is a Keystone hawk. All along she’s been writhing with frustration over the Obama Administration’s refusal to move on the project. So there she was on the Senate floor, demanding action on Keystone. And wouldn’t you know it: Landrieu’s Democratic colleagues in the Senate seem suddenly willing to hold a vote on Keystone. Of course, President Obama has signaled that he’ll veto any such bill if it reaches his desk…
Though Landrieu touted her support for Keystone during her original reelection campaign, the voters seemed unimpressed. But if at first you don’t succeed—double down on the cynical pandering! I doubt, however, that such lead-footed political two-stepping will save this past-her-sell-date hack from the fate that has already befallen eight of her Senate chums.
