Democrats descend on Louisiana in support of Sen. Landrieu

By Mason Harrison
Contributing Writer

National Democrats are rallying around Sen. Mary Landrieu as she faces a tough reelection bid after a Republican wave on Election Day that saw the defeat of Democratic Senate and gubernatorial candidates across the country, who according to polls were believed to be within striking distance of their GOP opponents. Instead, Democrats received a shellacking, yielding Republican control of the Senate and wider GOP control of the House. Landrieu, the lone Democrat to enter a runoff after Election Day, is believed to be vulnerable. Polls show the incumbent senator trailing opponent Bill Cassidy by double digits.

But the senator’s Demo-cratic colleagues see the race differently. “In a low turnout election, all she needs is 40 percent of her Democratic base to vote and she wins,” says Rep. Bobby Scott, a Virginia Democrat who traveled to New Orleans to host rallies on behalf of Landrieu. Scott estimates turnout statewide may hover in the mid-twenties. “So, in cases where Republicans don’t show at the polls, anyone can win.”

Scott says he is in the state to support Landrieu because of her championing of the Youth PROMISE Act, a bill stalled in Congress and introduced by Scott designed to reverse the course of juvenile delinquency. “Guess who is the number one supporter of that bill in the Senate?” Scott asked. “Mary Landrieu.” Landrieu calls the bill a measure to help buttress efforts to “stop the cycle of violence that traps so many of our young people in the criminal justice system,” but that “legislation can only do so much.”

Scott led a rally September 22 in Duncan Plaza on the first day of early voting to help gin up voter turnout ahead of the December 6 election. Scott says the national effort to support Landrieu is critical to her success. “If there’s a Democrat in the Senate from Louisiana, that’s one less vote the GOP can’t count on to spread their message, which is full of slogans and raises crime and recidivism among juveniles.” Rallies across the state totaled more than a dozen with national Democrats dotting the state to spur voters to the polls in what is expected to be a low turnout election that could be part of the southern trend to replace Democrats with Republicans. Landrieu is among but a handful of Democrats representing the South.

Scott pushes back on the notion that national Democrats abandoned Landrieu at the 11th hour of her campaign by yanking $2 million in ad buys slated for the runoff election. “You don’t understand, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee was $14 million in debt after the election—we were broke. There was no money to give. But the next day [Sen. Harry] Reid was out raising money for Mary.” When asked about why Democrats failed to back Landrieu’s frantic efforts to win support for the Keystone XL Pipeline, Scott says, “Well, I disagree with Mary on this, but I’m not sure that it would’ve helped much anyway.”

Republicans are trying to tie Landrieu to support for amnesty for undocumented immigrants, a death knell for Democrats running in the South, where the president’s approval numbers are underwater in part because of his support for immigration reform. Political observers suggest the president’s recent executive order providing deferred action before the December 6 runoff would injure Landrieu’s bid for a fourth term. “I actually think the president’s decision is good for Landrieu,” Scott says. “This is a good thing because it will help increase turnout among Latinos and other voters who support immigration reform. It won’t hurt her because the voters who are upset about immigration aren’t going to vote for her anyway.”

But Landrieu is distancing herself from the president’s executive order, announced during a nationally televised speech last month. Landrieu says immigration reform is necessary, but that use of executive power is not the approach to take. Landrieu is also striving to put daylight between herself and the president on energy policy, including opposing a ban on offshore drilling after the BP oil spill. But with low turnout during mid-term elections among traditionally Democratic voters, the strategy may not be enough.

Democratic National Committee secretary, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, says Democrats are assessing the reasons for low voter turnout during mid-term elections. “We’re looking at that now so that we can turn the tide in future elections.” Rawlings-Blake, also the mayor of Baltimore, traveled to New Orleans to lead rallies in Algiers. “What people have to understand is that a vote for Democrats means affordable health care and keeping education affordable.” Maryland is home to large numbers of government workers in the suburbs that surround the District of Columbia, communities that boast some of the wealthiest Black communities in the country. Voters in these areas were hurt by the government shutdown and failed to receive pay while the government was shuttered. But voters failed to voice any frustration at the polls. “Turnout was low in the counties with the most federal employees,” says Rawlings-Blake. President Obama bemoaned the low turnout from Democratic voters at a media event following the election. “Democrats have to think about how to connect with voters,” says Rawlings-Blake.

Black radio stations are being inundated with Republican ads linking Landrieu to support for abortion, a social issue that is a source of contention for a number of Black voters. The ads attack Landrieu for her pro-choice stance and ask, “Why should we support Mary Landrieu when she doesn’t even want our babies.” The ad harkens to the oft-repeated belief that abortions are used to target Black Americans. But Brandon Boutin, an assistant pastor at Greater St. Stephen Church in New Orleans, believes Black voters should look past social issues. “You’re never going to agree with someone on every issue, but that doesn’t mean that you don’t vote. You may disagree with your boss or the people on your job. Does that mean you don’t show up to work? Of course not. So, if [it] works in one area, it should work in another.”

Yet there are rumblings in Black political circles that Landrieu has failed to do much for Blacks in New Orleans. Landrieu is being criticized for a lack of overt efforts to improve the lives of Black residents in New Orleans and throughout the state, despite an aggressive print and radio ad campaign, featuring local Black politicians, which is something Scott rejects out of hand, saying, “If Mary Landrieu has never done anything for Black people in the state of Louisiana, that’s still more than Cassidy will ever do.”

This article originally published in the December 1, 2014 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.