The Democrats have an opportunity to save a U.S. Senate seat in Congress, but the odds are not positive for Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La.

Landrieu, the Democratic incumbent, has a runoff election against Republican candidate Rep. Bill Cassidy, also from Louisiana, on Dec. 6. Ahead of the runoff election, Landrieu has pushed to pass the Keystone XL pipeline legislation in the Senate. The House of Representatives approved the Keystone XL pipeline bill on Friday, which is authored by Cassidy.

Newly-elected Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., welcomed the sudden Democratic support of the Keystone XL pipeline.

"The American people have elected a new Republican Majority in the Senate and that has already made a difference. I was glad to see that Senate Democrats have finally backed off trying to obstruct construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline, the single largest shovel-ready project in America," McConnell said in a statement. "I hope this post-election conversion on Keystone signals Democrat cooperation on a whole host of other energy bills they have blocked, and whose passage would help to make America more energy-independent."

The Senate is expected to vote on the Keystone XL pipeline on Tuesday.

Reports indicate Landrieu's sudden push to pass the Keystone XL pipeline legislation is an effort to save her campaign and re-election bid for a fourth term. Landrieu and Cassidy did not receive the 50.1 percent threshold required to win the election on Nov. 4. The Democratic incumbent finished 1-percentage point ahead of Republican candidate Cassidy. The Nov. 4 election included a second Republican candidate with Tea Party-supported Rob Maness, who received 14 percent of the vote. Maness has since backed Cassidy for the Dec. 6 runoff election.

An internal poll conducted on behalf of the Cassidy campaign has him leading Landrieu by double digits. The poll, conducted by Magellan Strategies, revealed Cassidy with 56.6 percent to Landrieu's 40.5 percent. The source affiliated with the Landrieu campaign, however, has refuted the poll and claimed a conservative group conducted the survey.

Although Landrieu has pushed for the Keystone XL pipeline legislation to pass, President Barack Obama opposes the bill.

"Evaluating those earlier proposals, we have indicated that the president's senior advisers at the White House have recommended that he veto legislation like that and that has continued to be our position," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said while Obama continued his trip in Asia.

According to the U.S. Department of State's "Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Keystone XL Project" approximately 421,000 jobs will be made with the construction of the pipeline but only for two years. The report added that nearly $3.4 billion will be added to the U.S. economy, which equates to about 0.02 percent of the GDP.

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