updated 12:41 PM EST, Mon November 17, 2014
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Washington (CNN) -- Environmental activists are willing to bring their qualms with their traditional ally the Democrats right to their front door -- literally.
Opponents of the Keystone XL Pipeline plopped an inflatable "pipeline" on Sen. Mary Landrieu's front yard on Monday -- and the Louisiana senator likely isn't complaining.
Landrieu is trying to push the pipeline through the Senate as she faces an uphill climb to hold on to her seat in a December runoff against Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy. The pipeline could be a boon to Louisiana's Gulf oil-rich economy and passage of a bill authorizing the pipeline would be a high profile and new accomplishment that Landrieu could point to.
The visuals of more than 50 protesters picketing on Landrieu's front yard with "No KXL" signs could bolster Landrieu's status as a serious threat to opponents of the pipeline and positions her as a key player in the effort to bring more than a dozen Senate Democrats on board to support the bill and send it to President Barack Obama's desk. Activists even walked up to the front stoop of Landrieu's D.C. home and knocked on the door -- no answer.
But progressive activists at the protest said they weren't concerned about Landrieu's reelection prospects, acknowledging that both Landrieu and her opponent support Keystone XL.
"It's one vote in the Senate, and either way it's a yes vote on the Keystone pipeline," said Karthik Ganapathy, an organizer with the environmental organization 350.
Instead, Ganapathy and other activists said the protest was about more than Landrieu -- sending a message to national Democrats that they risk losing their base if they support policies like Keystone.
"We're not going to lie down and say, 'Oh but they're a Democrat,'" Ganapathy said. "The people that you're looking at here, these are the people that Hillary Clinton, the Democrats of 2016 and beyond are going to need to knock on doors and turnout the vote."
Read the rest here:
Keystone protestors have message for Democrats