Senate Kabuki

The US Senate is looking more and more like Kabuki theater, what with my senator, Mary (hack, spit) Landrieu trying to drum up support today for the Keystone pipeline.  Hot Air reports that Landrieu has lots of Republican support, indeed, every Republican senator is expected to vote for the measure, but Mary is having trouble garnering support from her own party.

Desperate for something positive to put before Louisiana voters prior to her Senate run-off, Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu is looking for an apparently illusive 60th Senate vote – from her Democratic colleagues.

You'd think that with Landrieu in trouble, in the fight of her life politically, that her colleagues in the Senate would come to her rescue and give her the few votes she needs to score a political victory.  You'd be wrong.  As I type this it appears that she's got almost enough votes, but not enough to push her over the margin.

Mary based her campaign on her seniority and her clout in the Senate.  If she can't get at least half of her caucus to join her, voters in Louisiana will be forced to ask themselves just how much clout she has in the Senate.  And, in the end, it's all Kabuki theater, because Obama will veto it, if it ever makes it to his desk.

This is Obama thinking he’s playing “hard ball”.  In fact, it is Obama playing his favorite game, throwing someone under the bus.  So it’s likely “good bye Senator Landrieu”

Landrieu can't get the support of her caucus, and it appears that she's got no clout with Obama either.  In January, she'll be in the minority, with even less clout and support. So the question becomes, why do we need her in the Senate.

It appears at almost Senate quitting time that Mary is till looking for that 14th vote.  My math is simple, 45 Republicans are on board, then there's her, so there must be 14 more Democrats that back her.  As I post this, she's having trouble getting that 15th vote.  The Democrats really want to help her, don't they?  That, all by itself, speaks volumes.