Oil and Politics: A Senator Scraps for Survival

WASHINGTON (AP/ABC/Staff) � Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu is scrapping for converts among fellow Democrats for legislation to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline before a runoff election that threatens to end her career in Congress. President Obama has signaled he may use his veto to block construction of the pipeline. Even so, Senate Democratic officials said the party’s leadership agreed to give Landrieu room to try and pass the measure only after making sure Obama would not sign it.

The maneuvering took place Thursday as House Republicans readied a vote for Friday on their own identical pipeline bill, advanced by Representative Bill Cassidy, who is Landrieu’s rival in the December 6th Senate runoff. The House voted Friday, 252 to 161, to support the pipeline. Its southern leg runs through much of East Texas, including eastern Smith County.