CNN's John King on Tuesday asked Sen. Mary "Louisiana Purchase" Landrieu (D-La.) if she intends to give back all of the campaign contributions she's received from BP over the years.
"Of the top 20 recipients from the oil and gas industry ever in the Congress, you rank number 14th," said King.
"In the 2008 campaign you were the number one Congressional candidate in terms of receipts from BP after only President Obama, then candidate for president Senator Obama, and Senator McCain," he continued. "There are some who say if you're going to be the watchdog you should give that money back."
Those understanding Landrieu's lust for money certainly won't be surprised by her answer (video follows with transcript and commentary):
JOHN KING, CNN: Let me ask you lastly. When something like this has people look back at political relationships. Of the top 20 recipients from the oil and gas industry ever in the Congress, you rank number 14th. In the 2008 campaign you were the number one Congressional candidate in terms of receipts from BP after only President Obama, then candidate for president Senator Obama, and Senator McCain. There are some who say if you're going to be the watchdog you should give that money back.
SENATOR MARY LANDRIEU, (D-LOUISIANA): I'm not trying to be a watchdog for BP. I'm trying to be a good senator for this country and for Louisiana and to bring a balance to our energy policy, which is protecting our coast, fighting for energy security and a clean environment. I want to say again, John, this is important. We've drilled 1,000 deep-water wells in the gulf successfully. 1,000 except for this one. So the fact that do you it 999 right and then 1 wrong doesn't mean you throw up your hands and run in hysteria. What you do is find out what went wrong --
KING: Even if an ecosystem is destroyed for ten years?
LANDRIEU: It may not be destroyed for ten years. We'll see what happens. I know there will be environmental challenges but we believe we have the technology to clean it up to compensate for people. Look, if New Jersey wants to give up their oil, if Florida wants to give up their oil, fine. But they're going to have a crash in their economy. We've got to transition to cleaner fuels, but we need to have the oil industry safe. Transition, use natural gas as a transition and then transition to wind and solar. Even the secretary of energy, who briefed us today in a speech, said it may take 50 years. It's 50 years, not 5 years or 3 years, not 10. It's 50 for this transition. Revenue sharing which I've been saying the leading advocate of saving our wetlands and saving our coast, this is a perfect example of why I think I've been right and the senators along the gulf coast to say we do receive 100 percent of the risk. Let us share a portion of those revenues to preserve our wetlands, to invest in technology and hold the industry accountable.
KING: Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana here tonight; obviously strongly held views on this issue. We'll keep in touch.
Now that's what I call a good question and a good answer.
Almost looked like journalism, didn't it?
Nice job, John.
Here's your next assignment: Get Obama on your program and ask HIM that EXACT SAME question.
