Senator Mary Landrieu speaks to a supporter on December 2, 2014 in Gretna, Louisiana. (Photo by Edmund D. Fountain for The Washington Post)
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) has spent the final week of her long-shot campaign to keep her job using an assortment of attacks against Rep. Bill Cassidy (R), zigging and zagging from one issue to another as she barnstorms the state.
In contrast, Cassidy's closing argument is the same one he has used for the duration of the campaign: “Senator Landrieu represents Barack Obama. I represent you."
Often, the candidate who is shifting attack patterns is trailing. Polls show this race is no exception. (After all, if your criticism is resonating with voters, why change it up?)
Here's a snapshot of all the different things Landrieu has had to say about Cassidy this week, veering from the political to the personal category, and even touching on the legal:
1. "If you are going to refer to the president of the United States, he's at least earned the title that the people gave him when they elected him."
Landrieu accused Cassidy Tuesday of being "disrespectful" to President Obama. Asked what she meant, the senator responded: "He refers to him by his last name. Constantly." Her argument was akin to the one Rep. Cedric Richmond (D) made in a Landrieu ad geared at African American voters.
2. He's not man enough.
Bloomberg's Dave Weigel sums up it up:
Landrieu's feminization of Cassidy (for not being accessible) is something to watch. She contrasted him with Rob Maness: "He was a MAN."
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) December 3, 2014
3. "He's going to be fighting more than the president. He's going to be fighting subpoenas."
Landrieu has spent much of time on the trail trying to convince voters Cassidy may have committed payroll fraud as a part-time employee at Louisiana State University. He denies any wrongdoing; LSU is looking into the matter.
4. "I hope we don't let him run out the clock."
Landrieu is correct is pointing out that Cassidy has been absent from the campaign trail this week. His Friday events with Sen.-elect Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) a day before the Saturday runoff election are his first campaign appearances in the state since he appeared in the final debate on Monday.
5. "We have a person with virtually no record."
Landrieu and her allies have been arguing that Cassidy's congressional record is thin and stands in contrast to her many years of delivering for Louisiana voters in Washington.
It's a sweeping array of attacks. On Saturday, she'll find out if any of those punches landed.
