Can plum Senate post save Mary Landrieu? These days, it could backfire.
Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, a vulnerable Democrat, is playing up her role as chairwoman of the Senate energy committee. But voters might not see that as a good thing if she can't deliver.
Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, a vulnerable Democrat, is playing up her role as chairwoman of the Senate energy committee. But voters might not see that as a good thing if she can't deliver.
Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu 鈥� one of the vulnerable Democrats up for reelection this fall 鈥� is deploying a special campaign weapon: her new post as chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
She touts it in campaign ads and from the halls of the Senate. As a senior lawmaker from a big energy state, that insider influence ought to help her keep her seat and perhaps even help Democrats retain control of the Senate. Or so the thinking goes.
A few weeks ago, Senator Landrieu promised to use her gaveling arm to force approval of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. This, after President Obama had again announced a delay in his decision on whether to approve the pipeline that would bring oil from Canada鈥檚 tar sands down to the Gulf of Mexico. Landrieu spoke out forcefully about the position she gained this year: 鈥淚 plan to use my power as chair of the Senate Energy Committee to take decisive action to get this pipeline permit approved.鈥�
But in the first significant test of that power this week, she couldn鈥檛 deliver. Her bipartisan legislation to approve Keystone, co-sponsored by Sen. John Hoeven (R) of North Dakota, stalled and then died in a fight over amendments on a related energy-efficiency bill.
Now, her election is developing as a test of how valuable something like a committee chairmanship can be for an incumbent. Once a sought-after prize, chairmanships appear to be increasingly devalued by how Congress has evolved and voters' cynical views of Washington power brokers.
For her part, Landrieu acts as if it鈥檚 quite valuable. Her first TV ad of the season, which portrays her fighting the Obama administration on oil and gas, bragged about it. Another ad, released at the end of April, featured a Louisiana Republican shipbuilder, Boysie Bollinger, saying that while he may not always agree with her, the state 鈥渃an鈥檛 afford to lose鈥� Landrieu. As the chair of the energy committee, the three-term senator has 鈥渢he most powerful position a person can have for Louisiana,鈥� he says as he strolls past his behemoths under construction.聽聽聽
He has a point, says Kirby Goidel, a political scientist at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. After Katrina, Landrieu became 鈥渁 pretty strong voice鈥� for Louisiana. She鈥檚 encumbered now with the unpopular Affordable Care Act and other issues, but she can use her committee to help differentiate herself from Mr. Obama, as she did on Keystone. The prospect of losing one of the state鈥檚 most powerful members in Washington 鈥渋s a pretty big appeal for Senator Landrieu and many in the business community who might otherwise tend to support a Republican,鈥� says Professor Goidel.
But a candidate invites criticism when she promises something and doesn鈥檛 deliver, he adds. Indeed, when Keystone imploded with a procedural vote on Monday, Landrieu鈥檚 main Republican competitor, Rep. Bill Cassidy from the US House, issued a press release titled: 鈥淟andrieu鈥檚 鈥業nfluence鈥� Fades on Keystone.鈥� Landrieu and Mr. Cassidy are running a very close race, according to polls.
鈥淲hen you raise the issue that you鈥檙e influential, you鈥檝e got to prove it with results,鈥� warns Ross Baker, a congressional expert at Rutgers University and author of a forthcoming book, 鈥淚s Bipartisanship Dead?鈥�
One problem for Landrieu, he says, is that committees 鈥� and committee chairs 鈥� aren鈥檛 as powerful as they used to be. Much committee work has been commandeered by the leadership in the Senate and the House. And leadership is consumed with positioning for the next election, he says.
In this case, Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D) of Nevada cared more about protecting his base from unpopular GOP energy amendments than he did about Landrieu, Mr. Baker says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the larger party message that was involved. He鈥檚 got a constituency that鈥檚 much broader than Mary Landrieu 鈥� as much as he wants to have her elected.鈥�
The bottom line, of course, is what voters think about insider power. According to an April poll of likely Louisiana voters by Southern Media & Opinion Research Inc., the answer is not much. When told that Landrieu has been a senator since 1996 and that she recently became chair of the Senate Energy Committee, 59 percent of voters thought that electing someone new was more important than keeping her in office.
If you're Mary Landrieu, that's gotta hurt.