Storm Politics Present Risks and Rewards
ST. PAUL — On the day Hurricane Katrina made landfall three years ago, President Bush helped Senator John McCain celebrate his birthday with a cake that melted on a blazing hot airport tarmac, just as the president’s approval ratings would in the weeks to come.
This time around, the party’s off. Or at least it is for Mr. Bush and Mr. McCain, who on Sunday sought to focus attention on efforts to prepare for Hurricane Gustav at the expense of carefully laid plans for this week’s Republican National Convention.
In some ways, it was a nightmare moment for Republicans. The hurricane’s approach put front and center once more some of the worst failings of the Bush presidency at the very moment Mr. McCain was to begin presenting a vision of the post-Bush Republican Party to the nation.
With television tracking the storm’s approach and showing images of an emptying New Orleans, it was hard for voters to escape reminders of how Mr. Bush had emerged from Hurricane Katrina severely wounded by judgments of incompetence and lack of empathy.
But rather than run away from the hurricane and its political risks, Mr. McCain ran toward it. He hustled on Sunday to Mississippi to make an appearance there, an unmistakable contrast to Mr. Bush, who flew over New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina but did not set foot in the region until four days after landfall. And Mr. McCain appeared on television with a semi-presidential bearing, briefing Americans on emergency preparations and calling on the nation to put aside partisanship.
It was a gamble that Mr. McCain could turn to his advantage a situation that otherwise threatened to wash away his opportunity to introduce himself and his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, through the careful choreography of his convention.
“There are two sides to the coin,” said Joe Gaylord, who was a top adviser to Newt Gingrich, a former House speaker. “On the one hand, you’d like the time to be able to present your message to the public. On the other hand, when the country’s going through something like this — and remember just how searing Hurricane Katrina really was for the country — to have that happen almost on the anniversary in almost the exact location, to not pay attention would be a huge mistake.”
Mr. McCain and Mr. Bush were not the only ones to put aside the campaign for a moment in deference to the storm. Senator Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee, said he would tap his broad fund-raising list to solicit donations and volunteers to help hurricane victims. But this was to be the Republicans’ week, and politically they would seem to have the most to gain or lose.
For Mr. Bush, it was a chance for a do-over. Though many Bush advisers continue to make the case that he was unfairly blamed for the uneven response to Hurricane Katrina, he has few opportunities left before he leaves office in less than five months to burnish his legacy, and this was clearly one.
So on Sunday, Mr. Bush met with federal emergency officials in Washington and, while he will again stay away from New Orleans for the moment to avoid getting in the way, he made plans to travel on Monday to Texas to be in the neighborhood.
For Mr. Bush, the television pictures may bring back haunting memories and spur thoughts of what he could have done differently in 2005.
“We kept making the point that the state of Louisiana and the city of New Orleans were dysfunctional,” said Dan Bartlett, the former Bush White House counselor, in a recent interview. “Yeah, but that’s why people wanted us to do something. But it was hard to see that when you were in the middle of it.”
Mr. Bush may never erase the black mark, but now at least he has a chance for redemption. “This is an opportunity for the administration to show that it’s learned some hard lessons,” said Mark McKinnon, a former consultant to both Mr. Bush and Mr. McCain. “It’s an opportunity to show government working this time. And if it does, that’ll be good for New Orleans, that’ll be good for the country and it’ll be good for the administration and for the party.”
Mr. McCain’s decision to get out front and center played into his “Country First” campaign slogan, allowing him to reinforce his message that he is not a typical partisan and to draw a sharp contrast with the Bush administration’s response of three years ago.
Even some Democrats agreed. “McCain has the opportunity, as long as he doesn’t look like he’s politicizing it, to look like he’s putting political rhetoric aside,” said Robert Shrum, a Democratic consultant who has been involved in conventions since 1972.
Neither Mr. Shrum nor other veteran political strategists could remember a convention turned on its head in quite this way, and so there was little precedent to consult in deciding how to adjust. Convention organizers watched helplessly as cable television focused nonstop on the hurricane on a day that otherwise would have been devoted to chewing over Mr. McCain’s biography or his selection of Ms. Palin as his running mate.
But the unspoken advantage for Mr. McCain may be a convention without Mr. Bush or Vice President Dick Cheney. The senator’s campaign was never enthusiastic about showcasing the unpopular president at Mr. McCain’s coming-out party. As it was, Mr. Bush had been scheduled to leave after his opening-night speech and retreat to Camp David, never appearing with Mr. McCain, who would not arrive until later in the week.
Now the hurricane has done what the McCain team did not think it could do. “For McCain and the Republicans, it’s already blown Bush and Cheney out of the convention,” Mr. Shrum said. “There was no other way to keep them away.”
David Carr contributed reporting from Minneapolis.
Sep 1, 2008 11:08 am US/Central
Veterans March To Xcel Center; 1 Detained
ST. PAUL (AP) ― About 100 veterans marched in formation to the site of the Republican National Convention on Monday, hoping their experience would lend credibility to their anti-war message.Many members of Iraq Veterans Against the War were in uniform as they pressed for a meeting with the presidential campaign of presumptive nominee John McCain. They want McCain to back additional services for military veterans, particularly services for veterans suffering from mental health issues after seeing combat.
Retired Army 1st Sgt. Wes Davey, 59, of St. Paul, said he was willing to be arrested to make his point, and he was peacefully led from the march by a lone police officer. Police initially said he was arrested, but spokesman Pete Crum later said Davey was only briefly detained.
Marcher Carlos Arredondo of Boston pulled a flag-draped casket carrying the uniform and boots of his son, Lance Cpl. Alexander S. Arredondo, a Marine killed in Iraq.
"As a father it is my responsibility to honor my son," he said. "As a citizen of this country, it is my responsibility to participate" in the anti-war march.
Another veteran, Army Spc. Vincent Lenart of Gary, Ind., said he was stationed in Mosul, Iraq, for a year starting in December 2004. He said he hoped the march of veterans would get the attention of politicians.
"We have a little more credibility, because we were in the service. Many of us have been over there and actually seen war," Lenart said.
Iraq Veterans Against the War also marched on the Democratic National Convention in Denver last week. Former Army sniper Garett Reppenhagen of Colorado Springs, Colo., said, "Both parties got us into this war, both parties need to get us out."
He added, "We're America's war veterans. If we're not listened to, who is?"
Hurricane Gustav tears into US coast
01/09/2008 15h14
©AFP - Matthew Hinton
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AFP) - Hurricane Gustav slammed into the US Gulf Coast Monday, whipping up fearsome rain and isolated tornadoes around a deserted New Orleans almost exactly three years after the terrifying disaster of Hurricane Katrina.
Three critically ill people were reported to have died as they were being evacuated from the danger zone, as thousands of emergency workers and National Guard troops took position in a city only just recovering from deadly Katrina.
Oil production in the Gulf region was shut down, the Republican Party suspended the start of its election convention and President George W. Bush headed for Texas to monitor emergency preparations for Gustav, which has killed more than 80 people in the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica.
©AFP/Getty Images - Stephen Morton
As the storm raged ashore with its eye crossing Cocodrie, Louisiana southwest of New Orleans, water was nearly to the top of the Industrial Canal lining the city's Ninth Ward neighborhood. Wind-whipped waves sprayed over the canal wall, a portion of which gave way during Katrina, destroying the district.
"We are concerned about any of this overtopping," said Major Tim Kurgan of the Army Corps of Engineers.
"These walls are all safe to the top," he stressed, with the levees still undergoing a 15-billion-dollar rebuilding program after Katrina's enormous damage.
©AFP/NOAA
But a surge of water driven by Gustav had yet to hit the coast, and would almost certainly send water flooding over the wall protecting the Ninth Ward, officials warned.
convention New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, who has ordered a curfew and vowed to throw looters into prison, told local television the city had become a "ghost town" after a mandatory evacuation forced nearly two million people to flee.
"We don't want to get caught up in the Katrina craziness," Wilson Patterson, 48, said as he prepared to board a bus with wheelchair-bound Earline Martin, 84.
people Only about 10,000 residents remained, Nagin said, as residents reported tornado sightings in the area around New Orleans.
©AFP - Jim Watson
At 10:00 am (1500 GMT) the eye of the storm was about 70 miles (110 kilometers) south of New Orleans, pummelling the marshy Mississippi river delta coastline with winds of up to 110 miles (175 kilometers) per hour, the National Hurricane Center said, while its tempestuous outer edges were already stretching far into Louisiana.
prepared Gustav weakened to a "Category Two" storm as it neared colder coastal waters, but government forecasters warned of an "extremely dangerous" water surge of up to 14 feet (4.2 meters), enough to worry locals after Hurricane Katrina burst New Orleans' levees in 2005 and flooded the city for days.
The hurricane will weaken significantly after landfall, so "the sooner the better," NHC spokesman Dennis Feltgen said.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal issued a final appeal to people who had remained in New Orleans. "This is a serious storm. We will begin search-and-rescue operations as soon as we safely can," he said.
©afp.com
Doctors "had to weigh the risk between sheltering in place and evacuating and made the decision they thought was best for their patients," he said.
New Orleans was locked down and streets empty as emergency workers hunkered in safe buildings on higher ground.
Power went out for many areas of coastal Louisiana with rains that witnesses described as horizontal. Loose objects became flying missiles as they were carried up by the wind gusts.
Louisiana officials said there were about 750 National Guard troops in New Orleans if a new rescue operation was needed, with memories still fresh of the destruction wrought by Katrina and the government's botched response.
©AFP/Graphic
Katrina made landfall near New Orleans on August 29, 2005, smashing poorly built levees surrounding the city and causing massive floods that destroyed tens of thousands of homes and killed nearly 1,800.
Stalked by memories of the Katrina tragedy, Republican White House hopeful John McCain shelved most of the opening day of the convention in St. Paul, Minnesota. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney cancelled plans to attend to concentrate on the deadly storm.
McCain Monday stopped by a disaster relief center in Waterville, Ohio where he met volunteers packing cleaning supplies, toiletries and toys for storm victims.
"This epitomizes the millions of American people who are serving on behalf of causes greater than their self-interest. They're putting their country first," he told reporters.
McCain's Democratic rival Barack Obama said he would make his campaign's mammoth donor list available to channel money and volunteers towards relief efforts.
How the GOP Is Counting on Hurricane Gustav for an Image Makeover
By Brad Reed, AlterNet
Posted on September 1, 2008
With another enormous hurricane bearing down upon the Gulf Coast, John McCain and prominent Republican leaders have decided that this could be the perfect time to rebuild their image.
Think I'm being too cynical? Consider that McCain decided yesterday to gin up publicity for his campaign by touring the Gulf region with newly-minted vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin. While down in Mississippi, McCain announced that the Republican National Convention this week would be transformed from "a party event to the call to the nation for action, action to help our fellow citizens in this time of tragedy and disaster, action in the form of volunteering, donations, reaching out our hands and our hearts and our wallets to the people who are under such great threat." What this means is anybody's guess, although GOP officials have been floating trial balloons about the idea of transforming the entire RNC into a giant telethon to help the hurricane victims. Not to be outdone, Senator Norm Coleman blatantly made the case that McCain would be the best president to defend the country from both terrorism and natural disasters. The hurricane also gave Bush a convenient opportunity to skip out of town and without weighing down the party with his sub-zero approval ratings. As one anonymous Republican strategist told the Washington Post, "Now the Republican brand out there is not so bad... the does-Bush-help-or-hurt question doesn't need to be asked or answered."
To understand why the GOP has been so quick to cover all its bases on the current hurricane, we should consider the tremendous fallout that Hurricane Katrina had on the Bush presidency. The 2005 storm had a devastating political impact on George W. Bush and the Republican brand because it showed the American public what happens when a political party believes at its core that government should not be taken seriously.
Sound extreme? Consider Michael Brown, the woefully unqualified former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, who became the public face of the disaster when Bush praised him against all evidence for doing a "heck of a job." Prior to becoming head of the nation's largest disaster relief agency, Brown worked for 11 years as "the chief rules enforcer of the Arabian Horse Association." His only supposed experience in emergency management had been working for the emergency services division in the city of Edmond, Oklahoma for three years in the 1970s.
You would think that with such a thin résumé, Brown would have been laughed out of the FEMA offices. But under the rules of Bush governance, partisan loyalties and ideological zeal always trump talent, intelligence and experience. Consider some other classic Bush appointees who were not merely unqualified, but who were in some cases actively hostile toward the institutions they were chosen to lead. There's George C. Deutsch, the former NASA press officer and college dropout who threatened NASA scientists with "dire consequences" for undermining the administration's position on global warming and who harped upon agency web designers to not dismiss intelligent design creationism on the agency's website. Or how about Monica Goodling, a religious zealot and former Justice Department political appointee who would screen candidates for career positions at the DOJ by asking them questions such as "What is it about President Bush that makes you want to serve him?" And who could forget notoriously unqualified Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers? Or John Bolton, the former United Nations ambassador who hates the United Nations? Or all the Heritage Foundation staffers who were sent over to rebuild Iraq?
The point is that for the past eight years, the administration has routinely appointed people to key government positions who are insane, incompetent, evil or some unholy combination of the three. This cavalier attitude toward hiring unqualified people for important positions resulted in the humanitarian disasters in both Iraq and the Gulf Coast, in government agencies where scientists feel threatened for not towing the administration line and in a Justice Department that has been plagued by shame and scandal. While one or two of these blunders would be bad enough on their own, collectively they have destroyed the GOP's image as the "daddy" party that believes in limited but effective governance.
Which brings us back to Hurricane Gustav. While it's unlikely that the GOP will totally undo the damage that the Bush years have wrought to its brand, the Republicans will likely attempt to show the public that during an election year they can at least try to govern in a manner that isn't wholly reminiscent of the Keystone Cops. Expect to see Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal giving us regular updates via satellite feed proclaiming that unlike in years past, federal relief workers are doing a heck of a job. Texas Governor Rick Perry will offer us heartfelt testimony from hurricane refugees grateful for the help they've been receiving. And finally, we'll probably watch Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour tell us that the government's excellent response to the hurricane shows that Barack Obama is dangerously unqualified to be president.
While you'd be right to call this cynical pandering, there are a couple of upsides to it. After all, assuming that the Republicans don't simply funnel all the money to Blackwater, it will be good to mobilize people to give money for hurricane relief. And let's face it, it is nice to now have two major political parties at least paying lip service to the radical idea that the government shouldn't simply sit by while its citizens drown.
AlterNet is a non profit organization and does not make political endorsements. The opinions expressed by our writers are their own.
Brad Reed is a writer living in Boston. His work has previously appeared in the American Prospect Online, and he blogs frequently at Sadly, No!.
No comments:
Post a Comment