Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu’s bid for reelection “appears doomed,” according to a new and gloomy forecast for Saturday’s runoff between the Democrat and Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy.
In University of Virginia analyst Larry Sabato’s latest political “Crystal Ball” to be posted online Thursday, the Senate seat for the first time is being parked in the “safe Republican” slot, a sign that Landrieu has little or no chance of a comeback.
Crystal Ball Managing Editor Kyle Kondik wrote, “It’s rare for us to completely write off an incumbent. In fact, we only did so in one race this cycle, when we moved Gov. Tom Corbett’s (R) reelection bid in Pennsylvania to Safe Democratic a month before the election. Sure enough, Corbett lost by nearly 10 points.
“Landrieu is basically in the same boat, and it would be an absolute shock if she won. So we’re moving the Louisiana Senate runoff from ‘Likely Republican’ to ‘Safe Republican.’ ”
Landrieu has been fighting an uphill battle and won little support from her friends in the Senate. And all President Obama did to show support is endorse her in a conference call.
“With just a few days left to go in the campaign, the race is barely an afterthought: Republicans have already won the Senate, and there’s simply no indication that Landrieu has much, if any, chance of winning,” said Kondik.
“The outside Democratic groups have stayed out, and the early voting numbers from Louisiana suggest that the electorate for the runoff will be smaller and more Republican than the one that showed up on Election Day,” he added.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
