Democratic senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana is already in the electoral battle of her life this November. Her national party is far out of step with Louisiana voters on health care, abortion, and energy issues, and the national mood is continuing to shift against the Democrats. And the leader of that party, President Obama, is deeply unpopular in the Bayou State.

The best card Landrieu had was one she was first dealt: her last name and its legacy in Louisiana. Her father, Moon Landrieu, was a celebrated mayor of New Orleans, while her brother Mitch was Louisiana’s lieutenant governor and now serves as the mayor of the Crescent City. Mary Landrieu may be a Democrat, the argument goes, but she is a Louisiana and New Orleans Democrat, like her brother and her father.