The Keystone pipeline is extremely popular in Louisiana. Landrieu is currently trailing her GOP opponent by several points. If she's given the opportunity to loudly and publicly vote 'Yes' on the pipeline, the theory is it will boost her standing in the election.
Now that the GOP has control of both houses, the approval of the Keystone is pretty much a foregone conclusion, so if the Democrats can get a vote on it (and republicans will have to vote yes, if a vote comes up) the thinking is they might be able to save one of their Red-State members.
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