Landrieu to Give Leftover Campaign Money to Former Senate Colleagues

$150,000

Amount former Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) has left in her campaign fund, which she plans to use to help former Senate colleagues run for re-election, the Shreveport Times reports. Landrieu said she also will contribute some leftover campaign money to Republicans: “I’m not opposed to helping one or two of my Republican friends that have helped Louisiana — if they ask. They haven’t asked yet.”

Turn the South Into a ‘Free-Market Jesus Paradise’

With Landrieu’s departure, the Democrats will have no more senators from the Deep South, and I say good. Forget about it. Forget about the whole fetid place. Write it off. Let the GOP have it and run it and turn it into Free-Market Jesus Paradise. The Democrats don’t need it anyway.

— Michael Tomasky, writing in the Daily Beast.

Democratic Support for Keystone XL Is About One, Not 42,000, Jobs

Hardened cynics, we will also note one job-related reason that this issue is even being discussed today. When Sen. Mary Landrieu’s (D-La.) political position became obviously tenuous after Election Day, Senate Democrats quickly began pushing forward Keystone XL approval in the hopes that it would help her chances in next month’s runoff against Rep. Bill Cassidy (R). Between Election Day and December 6th, the economy will probably create over 200,000 jobs without the Senate doing anything. The question on Capitol Hill appears to be if the vote will save one short-term job: Landrieu’s.

— Philip Bump, writing on Washington Post’s The Fix political blog.