Rand Paul headlines GOP rally in La. Senate race
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) Republican Senate candidate Bill Cassidy finally got the tea party assist Monday that he sought in his bid to oust Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu, drawing the endorsement of his former GOP competitor and rallying with Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul.
Tea partyer Rob Maness is urging the more than 202,000 people who voted for him in last week's midterm election to cast ballots for Cassidy in the Dec. 6 runoff a coalition that could give Cassidy a decided edge over Landrieu.
"I'm very confident that you'll see as I do that he is a man of faith, who loves our country, loves Louisiana, loves his family and loves these United States," Maness said at a GOP "unity rally." A vote for anyone else, he added, "is a victory for Barack Obama and that, my friends, is not an option."
Paul described last week's election and the Republican gains made in Congress as a "repudiation of the president and his policies," calling Landrieu a rubber stamp for the president.
"It's time to bring her home," he said in a packed Huey's Bar, named after Louisiana's most famous Democratic politician Huey Long.
The twin endorsements came during the first full week of political battle between Cassidy and Landrieu, who aired an ad questioning Cassidy's fitness for office. The spot, launched Sunday during the New Orleans Saints football game, featured quick cuts from a May 31 speech in which Cassidy appears to stumble over words and repeat himself.
"We'd lose Mary Landrieu's clout for this?" the narrator says.
Questioned about the ad, Cassidy's campaign spokesman John Cummins steered again to the unpopular president, saying: "Mary Landrieu may prefer the speaking style of President Obama, but Dr. Cassidy is focused on working hard, knowing the issues and representing the people of Louisiana, not Barack Obama."
Even if Landrieu wins the runoff, she will lose her Senate energy committee chairmanship in January to a Republican. The GOP won at least seven seats, enough for the majority, last week in the midterm elections. The Alaska Senate race has not been called for either Democratic Sen. Mark Begich or Republican Dan Sullivan.
Landrieu and Cassidy, who were the top two vote-getters in Louisiana's all-candidate primary Tuesday, advanced to the runoff. But the GOP rout nationally has taken some of the urgency out of Landrieu's pitch.