VITTER: A POLITICIAN'S POLITICIAN

Vote for the Crook, It's Important

A former Louisiana Congressman once remarked that at any given time, half the state of Louisiana is under water and the other half under indictment. Louisiana has a long, well-earned notoriety for producing politicians who outdo each other at being the most 'colorful'. The flamboyant and infamous Huey Long hailed from Louisiana. Nicknamed The Kingfish, Long practically wrote the book on patronage, packing the state government with his network of friends and political supporters.

In 1991, the gubernatorial contest pitted Edwin Edwards, a former congressman and governor famous for his corruption scandals and gambling debts, against David Duke, a former leader of the Ku Klux Klan. Edwards won the race under the slogan: "Vote for the Crook, It's important." Edwards served out his term in the Governor's Mansion and proceeded to serve a  ten-year-sentence in prison on corruption-related charges.

Edwards 'Campaign Poster'

Against this backdrop, I present David Vitter, senior U.S. Senator from the Pelican State. While I wouldn't dare to compare Vitter to Long or Edwards, the former has done a masterful job resurrecting his political image and positioning himself as the successor-apparent to Bobby Jindal as Governor of Louisiana.

Ever since his name appeared on the client list of the DC Madam prostitution ring in 2007, Vitter's political future was written off by an industry of pundits. But, in a testament to Vitter's genius and to the unique preferences of Louisiana voters, not only did he win reelection by almost 20 percentage points 3 years after his "very serious sin," he is now poised to become the state's next chief executive.

The Anatomy of a Comeback

So how exactly did Vitter accomplish his revival? No one issue captures Vitter's political acumen better than his effusive support for the Keystone XL Pipeline project. He was one of the three initial senators (along with Richard Lugar and John Hoeven) who introduced legislation in November 2011 requiring the Secretary of State to grant a permit for the Keystone pipeline within 60 days.

"Thy shall not pass"

In a press release sent out from the Senator's office to accompany the introduction of the bill, Vitter said:

"We're fighting to keep the Keystone XL pipeline project on a realistic timeline for completion. This project would create approximately 20,000 new jobs, $700,000 new barrels of oil per day - oil we wouldn't need from the Middle East. Everyone in Washington talks about saving the economy and creating jobs - this would actually do something about that." 

Earlier in 2011, Vitter had introduced 3-D: The Domestic Jobs, Domestic Energy, and Deficit Reduction Act of 2011, S. 706, which which sought to expedite permitting and decision making on the Keystone XL pipeline. Additionally, the Senator introduced an amendment in October 2011 to the "China Currency" bill that would have again expedited permitting the Keystone XL pipeline - a measure that was blocked by then Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

The Senator's February 2014 Newsletter had the following entry on the Keystone XL Pipeline:

"What other single project has the same positive job benefit, same positive energy security benefit, and five clean environmental impact statements? No other project. What other single project has the broad-based support that reflects the same spectrum and dominant majority among the American people? No other project. It's long past time to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, and I've been fighting with my colleagues in Congress to get it approved."

The Keystone XL bill seeks to permit the completion of the remaining 1,179-mile section of the Keystone pipeline from the oil sands of Alberta, Canada, to Steele City, Nebraska. At first glance, it is hard to see how passage of the bill benefits Louisiana, especially since the pipeline does not actually traverse Louisianan territory. While it is conceivable that some of the pipeline workers could come from Louisiana, this is not a strong enough justification for Vitter's unrelenting advocacy.

It all becomes apparent, however, when one considers Louisiana's status as an oil and gas state. According to Edward Chervenak, director of the Survey Research Center at the University of New Orleans, "any vote that supports the [energy] industry would tend to go over well" in the Pelican State. (To get an idea of the extent of Louisiana's love affair with oil and gas, just think about how easily its people were willing to let BP off the hook for the 2010 oil spill). 

The Three Amigos

Touting the virtues of the energy industry is a sure vote-getter in this part of the country, a fact which was not lost on Vitter when he campaigned vigorously for Bill Cassidy last year. According to LaPolitics, "Vitter cleared the rest of the GOP field for [Cassidy] early on, convincing Congressman John Fleming, state Rep. Paul Hollies and former Congressman Jeff Landry to sit this one out." Months before the midterms, Vitter was out knocking on doors with a national anti-abortion group campaigning against Democrat Mary Landrieu. In October 2014, he was instrumental in convincing Sen. John McCain to come stump for Cassidy and accompanied the two on the campaign trail. And at every stop, Vitter made it a point to mention his various efforts on behalf of the Keystone initiative. He even made concessions toward bipartisanship by attending a joint-press conference with Sen. Landrieu in February 2014, bringing pressure to bare on the President to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline.

Vitter's absences from the Senate have not gone without notice. This month, online news outlet Vocativ named David Vitter 6th on a list of 10 senators least likely to be present for floor votes. He has missed 197 of the 3,196 votes since he took office in 2005, giving him an absentee rate of about 6.16 percent. The Senate average is 2.01 percent.

On to the Governor's Mansion

David Vitter has been participating in a series of forums across Louisiana. These forums, closed to the media, focus on issues relevant to voters.

Below are some of the forums Vitter has scheduled:

• Feb. 18 in Alexandria: Farming and fishing
• Feb. 23 in Baton Rouge: Tax and spending reform
• March 2 in Lafayette: U.S. energy boom
• March 12 in New Orleans: Violent crime
• March 23 in Baton Rouge: Addressing corruption and cronyism
• TBD: Making government customer-focused

Vitter held a similar round of forums last Fall, most of them focused on Higher Education.

Vitter faces Republican Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne, Republican Public Service Commissioner Scott Angelle and Democratic state Rep. John Bel Edwards in the governor's race in 2016.