Political Damage of Hurricane Katrina

Unless you have had no communication with civilization for the past 6 months, you know about the devastation to the residents of the Gulf Coast as a result of Hurricane Katrina. But are you sure you know who will take the brunt of the political damage? President Bush, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, and Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco have all received some sort of political repercussions.

President Bush has received the most public criticism for FEMA’s delays to get supplies to affected areas. But I don’t believe he will be affected nearly as much as Nagin or Blanco. Time or rather timing has been on the President’s side. He will not face the voters of the Gulf region. Nor is the aftermath of the hurricane the top issue with the general public in reference to him. The more time that passes the less of an impact will the disaster have on President Bush.

Both Ray Nagin and Gov. Blanco are a different story. They each will receive significant damage for several reasons. Both are first term incumbents where all of their constituents have been personally afflicted by the disaster. Questions also remain about their responses in the days prior to the Hurricane coming ashore. Furthermore a significant portion of their electoral base has been scattered across the country and unlikely to be available for the elections.

Nagin has been criticized for not utilizing all available transportation to move those who were unable to leave on their own. Reports have surfaced stating that passenger rail services had offered free seats on their lines for outgoing passengers as the moved their rail stock out of the city. This offer had been turned down by the Mayor’s administration.

Governor Blanco will probably have the deepest issues to deal with in association with Hurricane Katrina. She too has been criticized by her inability to thwart bureaucratic red tape in order to get federal aid process moving. But she has an issue that could be more troublesome for her. Memos were published by the media giving the impression that Governor Blanco’s office was more concerned with the public relations spin in the aftermath than in the recovery effort.

There are many other factors that could affect the re-election hopes of Mayor Nagin, and Governor Blanco. Many of these are well beyond their controls. The only things either of them can do is to show proactive leadership, and not seem so concerned about their own political future. If they do the first the latter will take care of itself.