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Originally published December 5, 2014 at 8:49 PM | Page modified December 5, 2014 at 10:09 PM

WASHINGTON The ailing Democratic Party, its stature as a national party teetering, appears poised to be wounded again Saturday if underdog Sen. Mary Landrieu loses her bid as expected for re-election in Louisiana.

The likely win by Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy in the runoff would complete a near-sweep this year of Southern Senate seats and governorships, in 10 of the 11 states of the old Confederacy. The Democrats only victory was in Virginia, where Sen. Mark Warner barely survived a surge by Republican Ed Gillespie.

The Louisiana race is emblematic of the trouble Democrats faced in 2014 and are likely to confront for years. The party is widely regarded in the South as hostile and indifferent to the interests of white working-class voters, said Merle Black, a Southern politics expert at Emory University.

Landrieu, a three-term senator, won 42 percent in the Nov. 4 election. Cassidy got 41 percent, and conservative Rob Maness won 14 percent. Because no one got a majority, the top two finishers vie in Saturdays runoff.

Novembers exit polls illustrate Landrieus challenge. Four of five Louisiana voters were worried about the economy, and Landrieu won only 38 percent of the ones who were. She barely got 1 of 5 white votes, about two-thirds of the electorate, and 94 percent of the black vote.

Those patterns were repeated throughout the South. In nine other Southern states with Senate race exit polls, Warner did the best among whites, winning 37 percent. Five Southern Democrats got 22 percent or less.

A Landrieu loss would be the latest blow to Democrats in the South. Other than Virginia, only Florida has a Democratic senator or governor, once Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe retires in January. Sen. Bill Nelson was re-elected to a third term in 2012.

Part of the Republican success results from the uniqueness of 2014. Incumbents in three Southern states where President Obama is unpopular were up for re-election, and they were hobbled by their voting records. Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., who lost last month, had the worst party-line record and he had still sided with Obama 90 percent of the time last year.

The Democratic record included support for the Affordable Care Act of 2010, which Republicans touted as the latest Democratic intrusion into private lives as well as the partys yen for big, expensive government.

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Democrats are all but extinct in the South

Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy has denied Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana a fourth term, calling his Senate victory "the exclamation point" on midterm elections that put Republicans in charge on Capitol Hill for President Barack Obama's last two years in office.

With nearly all votes counted, unofficial returns showed Cassidy with a commanding victory in Saturday's runoff as he ousted the last of the Senate's Deep South Democrats. In the South, Democrats will be left without a single U.S. senator or governor across nine states stretching from the Carolinas to Texas.

Cassidy, after a campaign spent largely linking Landrieu to Obama, called his win more of the same message American voters sent nationally on Nov. 4 as Republicans scored big gains in both chambers of Congress.

"This victory happened because people in Louisiana voted for a government that serves us, that does not tell us what to do," Cassidy said in Baton Rouge, the state capital.

He did not mention Obama or offer any specifics about his agenda in the Senate, but said in his victory speech that voters have demanded "a conservative direction" on health care, budgets and energy policy.

Following Cassidy's victory, Republicans will hold 54 seats when the Senate convenes in January, nine more than they have now.

Republican victories in two Louisiana House districts on Saturday ? including the seat Cassidy now holds ? ensure at least 246 seats, compared to 188 for Democrats, the largest GOP advantage since the Truman administration after World War II. An Arizona recount leaves one House race still outstanding.

Landrieu narrowly led a Nov. 4 Senate primary ballot that included eight candidates from all parties. But at 42 percent, she fell well below her marks in previous races and was sent into a one-month runoff campaign that Republicans dominated over the air waves.

The GOP sweep also denied former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards a political comeback at age 87; the colorful politician who had served four terms as governor in the past had sought a return to public office after eight years in federal prison on corruption charges.

Landrieu hugged tearful supporters and sought to strike an upbeat chord Saturday night after her defeat. Her defeat was also a blow for one of Louisiana's most famous political families, leaving her brother, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, to carry the banner.

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Last of Senate's Deep South Democrats Defeated

It used to be that Democrats would mutter under their breath about President Barack Obama and the White House.

Now, with the midterm elections behind them, some leading members of the president's own party are airing their frustrations with little restraint and charting their own course.

In speeches, negotiations and congressional hearings, several high-profile Democrats are disregarding the White House in ways large and small. The White House has responded with an extraordinary veto threat while Obama has made a round of calls to liberal Democrats urging them to stand up against their own leadership.

Consider that in just a week's time:

?Sen. Harry Reid, the Senate's Democratic leader, was on the verge of cutting a deal with Republicans with a 10-year price tag of more than $400 billion in tax breaks without White House input.

?Sen. Chuck Schumer, a prominent member of the Senate Democratic leadership, raised new doubts about the timing of Obama's 2010 health care law.

?Sen. Robert Menendez, the outgoing chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, began work with Republicans against the Obama administration's wishes on new penalties against Iran.

"There is always going to be some friction between somebody who's never going to run again and a bunch of people who are," said Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. "There's going to be a natural rub there ? the president never has to worry about his approval rating again."

Put differently, many senators have served a long time; presidents come and go. With two years left in his two-term presidency, Obama's time is running out.

That doesn't mean Obama necessarily wields a weaker hand. The deal by Reid, D-Nev., to permanently extend certain tax breaks failed after the White House rallied liberals and issued a veto threat. Menendez, D-N.J., has yet to put together a veto-proof majority on his Iran plan.

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Obama, Congressional Dems Show Cracks in Unity

House Democratic LeaderNancy Pelosiof California may run the minority party in the House, but the current maneuvering over a must-pass spending bill could serve as an example of how she still holds some power.

The Republican-controlled House faces a Dec. 11 deadline to pass a spending bill or risk a repeat of the government shutdown that occurred last year. To pass the measure, GOP leaders may need some Democratic votes, partly because a bloc of conservative Republicans is unhappy that the spending bill does not do enough to stop President Barack Obama from shielding millions of illegal immigrants from deportations.

Democrats have said their support depends on the contents of the spending measure, which is expected to be released next week. That gives Mrs. Pelosi some leverage, but at a news briefing Friday she did not show her cards as to how, if at all, she plans to wield it.

Withholding Democratic votes could risk another government shutdown an outcome that Democrats have worked to avoid out of a belief that such brinkmanship is irresponsible. The same thinking is also the reason Democrats supplied the votes to raise the U.S. borrowing limit in February, even though the vote subject members of the caucus to attacks on the campaign trail.

As it relates to shutting down the government, call us responsible, Mrs. Pelosi told reporters.

A vote next week on the spending bill will provide a new test. Mrs. Pelosi cited concerns that the measure would include provisions that she feared might weaken school-lunch and clean water standards. She said that there are some very destructive riders in it that would be unacceptable to us and I think unacceptable to the American people.

Some of those provisions, she said, would bepolicies Democrats would not support. But she stopped short of threatening to take down the legislation over any particular provision. Im not saying any one of them is a deal breaker, but Im saying these are an array of concerns that we have.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) also said in a statement Friday that he is encouraged by his recent conversations with Republicans and that he looks for the House to send the Senate a clean funding bill meaning one free of policy riders.

A spokeswoman for House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R., Ky.) suggested that Republicans wouldnt advance anything that would alienate the entire Democratic caucus. We expect to have a bill ready to file on Monday, the spokeswoman said on Friday. Our intention is to craft a bipartisan product that members on both sides can support.

That was the same message that House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) delivered a day earlier. I expect that well have bipartisan support to pass the omnibus appropriation bill, Mr. Boehner said.

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Democrats Arent Showing Their Cards Yet in Spending Bill Strategy

Democrats Sell "Hate" Instead of "Hope" For Holidays
The DNC is selling some strongly worded gifts for the holidays. One is a tumbler that promotes hate! Plus, Russell Brand gets called out by a reporter and NATO #39;s new task force!

By: PJ Media

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Democrats Sell "Hate" Instead of "Hope" For Holidays - Video