Conservative groups are running an aggressive final push in the runoff election for the Louisiana Senate seat, with additional ads hitting the airwaves Monday tying Democratic incumbent Sen. Mary Landrieu to President Barack Obama’s policies.
Despite Rep. Bill Cassidy’s double-digit lead, outside groups are out in full force for the Republican, while Landrieu continues a lonely fight to save the Senate seat she has held for 18 years.
Ending Spending Action Fund, a conservative super PAC, is releasing two campaign ads this week that will run statewide against Landrieu. The super PAC is spending roughly $600,000 on voter contact and television, radio, and online ads for the last week of the race.
The first ad, "Fail Mary," hits Landrieu for her inability to convince enough Democrats to vote for the Keystone XL pipeline. Ending Spending’s affiliated non-profit group released the radio ad.
"Landrieu spent months bragging about her so-called clout, but took almost six years to get a vote on the Keystone pipeline," a narrator says. "The sad truth, it wasn’t Landrieu’s power that forced Democrats to vote on Keystone, it was her weakness."
"Yet even with Landrieu’s career on the line, she still threw a ‘Fail Mary,’" the ad said.
In a second ad, "Dear Mary," a voter breaks up with Landrieu in a letter for "spending too much time" with Obama, while voters in Louisiana face a poor economy and higher health care costs.
Both ads are critical of the president’s recent executive action on immigration, which will give legal status to more than 5 million illegal aliens.
Ending Spending Action Fund’s push comes alongside millions being spent in support of Cassidy from groups including the Karl-Rove backed American Crossroads, and Freedom Partners Action Fund.
Landrieu has no outside Democratic groups supporting her, except for the Humane Society, which is running ads that your dog could be crushed or end up in a puppy mill without Mary Landrieu.
Freedom Partners Action Fund dedicated $2.1 million to the runoff on anti-Landrieu ads. The group, backed by libertarian philanthropists Charles and David Koch, released a new ad on Monday featuring two Louisiana residents who say, "A vote for Mary Landrieu is a vote for President Obama and his failed liberal policies."
Conservative War Chest PAC also released a Thanksgiving Day anti-Obama ad in support of Cassidy that has more than 136,000 views on YouTube.
Cassidy and Landrieu will meet for a final debate in Baton Rouge on Monday evening ahead of the runoff election on Dec. 6. A Landrieu victory is widely viewed as a long shot.
Early voting returns are showing positive signs for Cassidy, as Republicans increased their early voting turnout from the general election on Nov. 4, while every other group declined, including a 24 percent drop among African American voters.