I respect a great campaign ad strategy and this is a very good one:
http://abcnews.go.com/...
Sen. Mary Landrieu is getting an assist from her father, former New Orleans Mayor Maurice “Moon” Landrieu, in a new TV campaign ad rolling out today.
A little family branding may provide a needed boost to the Louisiana Democrat as she faces a tough re-election bid against leading Republican opponent Rep. Bill Cassidy, as well as tea party underdog Rob Maness.
In the ad – filmed in the senator’s childhood home – Moon Landrieu makes the case that his “hardheaded” daughter has used her stubbornness to fight for Louisiana.
“When you have nine children, you’re bound to have one who’s hardheaded,” Landrieu, 83, says to the camera as his daughter sits down beside him.
“Dad, you’re one to talk,” says Sen. Landrieu, who chairs the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Moon Landrieu goes through a series of issues for which he says Landrieu has used her “hardheadedness” in Louisiana’s favor: standing up to BP after the oil spill that devastated the state’s coastline in 2010 and breaking with President Obama to call for the approval of the controversial Keystone oil pipeline.
At the ad’s end, the father leans in and whispers to the camera: “And now you know why Putin won’t let her into Russia.”
Sen. Landrieu, 58, simply shakes her head in response. - ABC News, 5/13/14
Now this isn't the most original strategy but it's still a good one:
http://www.nola.com/...
Moon Landrieu's son, Mitch, now has his old job as mayor of New Orleans.
The new commercial, and a second father/daughter ad appearing on the internet, is designed to improve Landrieu's approval ratings after release last week of Southern Media & Opinion & Opinion Research poll found that 58 percent of the 600 likely voters surveyed rated the three-term Democrat's performance as either poor or "not so good," while 39 percent rated her performance excellent or good.
Landrieu isn't the only candidate to run a campaign ad with her dad. Michelle Nunn, the Democratic candidate for the Senate in Georgia, recently ran a TV commercial with her dad, former Sen. Sam Nunn, D-Ga. Michelle Nunn is trying to keep being a senator part of the family business. - Times-Picayune, 5/13/14
And this new ad strategy couldn't come at a better time:
http://www.latimes.com/...
Landrieu’s chief opponent, Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy, has disputed her claims that she is indispensable to Louisiana. He has noted that the administration delayed a decision on approving the pipeline despite an effort by Landrieu to organize a group of senators to send the White House a letter pressing for approval.
After her effort to secure a vote on the pipeline failed in the Senate last week because of a partisan standoff, Cassidy’s spokesman scoffed that Landrieu’s “PR machine screams about how vital her role will be for Louisiana’s energy economy, but so far it’s only been vital for promoting herself.”
The new ad featuring Landrieu and her father — which ends with a “to be continued” tag line — is the first in a series that will feature the popular former mayor. The Landrieu campaign, which spent about $200,000 to air the ad across the state, has already posted the second installment online. - Los Angeles Times, 5/13/14
Of course Republicans like Cassidy will hit Landrieu on Obama's decision to delay the Keystone XL Pipeline but Landrieu is pushing to turn the blame on the Republicans:
http://www.politico.com/...
Democrats say they don’t believe that Landrieu’s election-year prospects will be hurt, reasoning that Republicans will shoulder the ire of public opinion.
“They’re able to now hit Republicans for blocking it,” said a senior Democratic aide. “Now they can call on Obama to approve the pipeline and blame Mitch McConnell.”
And that’s exactly what Landrieu has been doing.
“If Mitch McConnell wants to have a vote on Keystone straight up or down, where he may get 60 votes, he most certainly has the power in his caucus to make that happen,” she said Wednesday as the negotiations for energy legislation ground to a halt. “They’re going to probably blow the opportunity to get a vote on Keystone because they just can’t help themselves.”
On Thursday she was even more blunt: “This is in Mitch McConnell’s hands.”
The senior Democratic aide added that leadership hasn’t ruled out holding a future vote on Keystone, particularly if it proves useful as a bargaining chip with Republicans. 5/9/14
And Landrieu may be in for one long fight:
http://www.cbsnews.com/...
Landrieu's re-election race is expected to be a long one for the Democrat, and not just figuratively. Because of Louisiana's "jungle" primary system, candidates from both parties running for Senate all compete against one another in November. Whoever clears the 50 percent threshold wins outright. But if no one does, the top two candidates compete in a December runoff. Polls show Landrieu well under that threshold -- the latest puts her at 36 percent, with Republican Rep. John Cassidy just one percentage point behind. (The RCP Average has her at 42.3 percent, trailing Cassidy's 44.5 in a hypothetical runoff matchup.)
Analysts in the state are predicting a runoff, given the polling trends and the fact that four people are in the race. That means Landrieu's fate might not be decided until December. And since the Louisiana contest is one of the marquee races this year, control of the Senate may not be decided until then either.
Landrieu is no stranger to long, tough campaigns, and operatives on both sides of the aisle applaud her survival instincts. She won by six points in 2008, when Obama lost Louisiana by 19 points (there was no jungle primary that year). In 2002, two years after her state voted for George W. Bush, she beat her Republican opponent in a runoff by four points. She won her first Senate race in a 1996 runoff by less than one percentage point. She is also part of a political dynasty in the state, headed by her father, Moon Landrieu. Her brother Mitch is the popular mayor of New Orleans who could run for governor in 2015.
This campaign could be her toughest yet, with Louisiana becoming increasingly unfriendly territory for statewide Democrats. Despite -- or perhaps because of -- that changing local landscape, Landrieu wields her chairmanship like a top re-election tool. - CBS News, 512/14
But Landrieu recently received a shout out from the First Lady herself:
http://abcnews.go.com/...
Mrs. Obama and Sen. Landrieu met with spouses of military veterans during a joint appearance at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans on Saturday.
Though the meeting with military spouses was a decidedly non-political event, it might be Michelle Obama’s first (albeit unofficial) foray into the 2014 midterm elections. The first lady, known for her ability to rouse support in campaign appearances, is sometimes referred to as “the closer” and is a sought after campaign surrogate.
The meeting came after Mrs. Obama and Sen. Landrieu both received honorary degrees at the graduation ceremony at New Orleans’ Dillard University. And during her remarks, Mrs. Obama made a point to recognize Landrieu.
“I also want to recognize Senator Mary Landrieu, who is here. Let’s give her a hand,” Mrs. Obama said to the crowd. “She has been a strong supporter of this university.” - ABC News, 5/13/14
I'll give Landrieu and Senator Mark Pryor (D. AR) this: They know when not to run away from the Obamas. If you want to donate and get involved with Landrieu's re-election campaign, you can do so here:
http://www.marylandrieu.com/