Heading into a Dec. 6 runoff in Louisiana against Democratic Sen. Mary L. Landrieu, Rep. Bill Cassidy took a second crack at the Republican weekly address to make his case for election to the Senate.

Just as in his first address in June, the doctor by trade recalled interactions with patients as a prominent forum to hear constituent concerns on the direction of the country.

“When my patients tell me about their health concerns,” Cassidy said, “they also tell me they are worried about the economy, their jobs, the direction of our country.”

With the final outstanding Senate race on the line, Cassidy and his opponent both came out in strong support of the Keystone XL pipeline last week, urging their chambers to approve the measure. The House voted in favor of the pipeline, while the Senate — despite a push by Landrieu — missed the 60-vote cloture threshold by one vote.

In the address, Cassidy blamed Landrieu and President Barack Obama for failing to throw weight behind the Keystone XL proposal sooner.

“Why did it take Louisiana’s senior senator nearly 3,000 days to do something about it?” Cassidy asked.

Cassidy is favored to win the runoff, necessitated by neither candidate securing a majority of the vote in the Nov. 4 jungle primary. A Cassidy win would net Republicans nine seats in the midterms and give the party a 54-seat majority in the new Congress. Still, Republicans aren’t taking the race for granted, exemplified by Cassidy’s latest use of this national platform.

He said the pipeline would create 40,000 high-paying jobs, put billions of dollars into workers’ pockets, benefit manufacturers and their employees, and said that Louisiana and the Gulf Coast states would benefit from a reliable supply of crude oil. Cassidy said 60 percent of Americans support the pipeline.

“Keystone has become a symbol to achieve North American energy independence,” Cassidy said.

Cassidy finished by tying Landrieu to Obama policies, calling for a repeal of the Affordable Care Act and reiterated his support for expanded domestic energy production.

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