Bush's Little New Orleans Problem
The White House and Capitol-Hill Republicans who want to stay in power should consider a threat that looms even earlier: the Democrats, if they’re remotely smart, will frame the mid-term elections as a referendum on how much progress President Bush has made over the course of 14 months in overcoming the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, and the national media will efficiently dispatch images from the Big Easy of how things are going there. Will the president be ready?
President Bush has dropped the ball, totally, in New Orleans. What with one thing and another, I’m not even sure he remembers that there were a couple of big storms this hurricane season, but somebody needs to remind him...soon.
Not just because New Orleans is worthwhile (it is), or because it’s the right thing to do (of course), or that he made stirring but thus-far empty promises in Jackson Square (he did). The real bottom line is: if Bush doesn’t step up to the plate and help New Orleans, the Democrats are absolutely gonna nail the Republicans to the wall for it.
Nicole Gelinas at City Journal wrote about exactly this earlier in November, in which she said (in part):
So far, I’ve seen absolutely nothing to indicate Bush will be ready in 14 months, but it turns out he doesn’t have that long anyway. Rather, it looks like he has until about April to get in front of his little “New Orleans problem”, because not only are the Democrats "remotely smart", they have already started to move.
Frankly, it doesn't matter to me whether the Democrats or the Republicans "fix" New Orleans. But if you belong to either of those parties, it is likely to matter to you.
April's coming, and the clock’s tickin’.
3 Comments:
Personally, I'm getting sick of the whole partisian crap that has been going on lately. It shouldn't matter which party "fixes" New Orleans because there are major social, economical, and environmental issues that must be addressed in the 14 month period after Hurricane Katrina. Thes eissues must be addressed not only to benefit New Orleans but the entire country. Hopefully Bush will get his act together and if he doesn't there will be more than a few pissed off Democrats to deal with.
cinefille,
Yes indeed, the partisan nastiness is in full swing... and it's going to get much worse before we see any improvement. If Bush et al continue their apparent vows of silence on the subject of New Orleans, though, it's really hard to understand how anyone in the Republican party will be able to hold their heads up with pride. The shame of what's happening (or rather, not happening) in Louisiana is liable to come back to haunt them for decades.
On the other hand, the Democrats haven't done particularly well, either. Maybe from the ruins, a viable third alternative will finally surface? (one can only hope)
That's an original angle on the situation polimom -- well done.
Louisiana is a swing state -- Republicans across the board better get their act together and hold their dumbass in chief to account.
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