The WSJ’s Kimberley Strassel helps unearth the truth behind Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu’s politics here:
Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu rolled out her pitch for a fourth term in an interview with the Times-Picayune in April. “I’m indispensable,” she told the New Orleans newspaper, noting that her pull in the Senate would “secure for Louisiana a significant and reliable string of revenue.”
As usual, Ms. Landrieu was talking about her efforts on behalf of Louisiana’s oil and gas sector, the bedrock of the state’s economy. She claims to be her party’s fiercest advocate for that industry, and she talks extensively about her support for the Keystone XL pipeline, her opposition to industry taxes and her desire to rein in EPA regulations.
In the Times-Picayune interview, Ms. Landrieu emphasized her intentions to expand oil and gas production and speed up royalty payments to her state, hinting at greater influence in 2015 as potential chairwoman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Behind the scenes, however, Ms. Landrieu has been working just as hard to make sure she’s irrelevant. Through the auspices of JAZZ PAC, her leadership political action committee, she has from 2006 to 2012 contributed some $380,000 to re-elect some of the most ardent Senate opponents of the oil and gas industry. One result is a bloc of liberal members who easily cancel out Ms. Landrieu’s votes and guarantee the defeat of legislation designed to help Louisiana.
