Oil and politics: A senator scraps for survival

WASHINGTON (AP) – 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.

The White House says President Barack Obama takes a dim view of the bill, but has not explicitly threatened a veto on an issue that blends crude oil with raw politics. 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 Dec. 6 Senate runoff.