John’s post about the anger in NOLA, and Mary Landrieu’s tepid response, got me wondering about Mary.
She spent a little over $11 million to get elected in 2008 with 52% of the vote. She got about $365K from individuals and groups associated with the oil and gas industry during that run.
The only other Democrat elected to statewide office in Louisiana is Attorney General Buddy Caldwell. There’s a single Democratic Representative, Charlie Melancon, who is running against David Vitter this year. Melancon’s raised about half of the $5 million Vitter has in the bank, and Cook rates that seat as “likely Republican”.
So, if you’re a Democrat in Louisiana, you need to raise twice as much money as a Republican to win a seat, and you’ll have to genuflect to some pretty ugly interests to get your cash. If you’re a Republican, you can fuck whores and cruise to re-election. If you ever wonder about Landrieu’s strange politics, just keep that in mind.