Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu is embracing her voting record, including her steadfast support of Obamacare, as she faces a tough battle to hang onto her Louisiana seat.
While other Democratic midterm candidates may shy away from backing President Barack Obama’s domestic healthcare policy, the incumbent senator is standing by her votes for the troubled law, and so far it appears to be paying dividends.
"It was just the way I was to taught to be, or encouraged to be, by my father and my parents," Landrieu told
BuzzFeed. "I don’t apologize. I’m very happy doing it, and so far, the people of my state have elected me to do it. But I’m the same, and I’m going to stay the same.
"I’m a centrist. I’m not going to run away from it. I’m going to run to it." Landrieu said, echoing the words of former President Bill Clinton, who recently urged Democratic candidates to embrace Obamacare.
BuzzFeed noted that Landrieu emphasized the word "centrist" as she fights for re-election in what the report calls "one of the most conservative, anti-Obama states in the nation."
At the same time that Landrieu pushes the fact that she’s not backing away from Obamacare, she’s also been touting the notion that she helped her state receive $300 million in Medicare payments from the federal government.
In her TV ads, she’s been promoting her credentials as chairwoman of the Senate Energy Committee, calling it "the most powerful position in the Senate for Louisiana."
Landrieu has been the chief Democratic proponent of the Keystone XL oil pipeline and has urged Obama to approve it.
"Being a leader is leading. It’s not performing," Landrieu told BuzzFeed. "It’s not theater. It has real consequences, and I am who I am.
"I have strengths, I have weaknesses, and I just really try to lead in a way that puts the people of my state first and foremost. I was sent here to represent them. I just try to stay faithful to that."
In the midterm election, Landrieu will be facing GOP Rep. Bill Cassidy and Air Force Col. Rob Maness, a Republican endorsed by former Alaska Gov.
Sarah Palin.
Louisiana's open primary system means that all the candidates will be on the ballot in November. If nobody wins an outright majority, the top two advance to a runoff.
Landrieu’s strategy to face her critics head-on, has been working so far, and she’s been leading Cassidy in the polls. But BuzzFeed said that Landrieu is expected to be beaten by Cassidy if she faces him in a runoff election.
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