Posted on 08/14/2004 3:26:38 AM PDT by Conservative_boy_in_Bangkok
By CALVIN WOODWARD, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Once Hurricane Charley is gone from Florida, it's a safe bet President Bush (news - web sites) will sweep in. Natural calamities present political opportunity, and many crucial electoral votes are in the path of Charley's howling winds. Bush swiftly issued a disaster declaration to expedite federal aid as Charley tore into the Florida Gulf Coast on Friday. He was acting on a request that had come from his brother Jeb, the governor, even before the ferocious storm made landfall. The president was expected to visit the area in the aftermath.
Officials are loath to ascribe campaign motives to emergency response, but politics infuses everything this close to an election. No more so than in the state that handed Bush the presidency.
"This provides both opportunities and real dangers for the president," said Dario Moreno, a Florida International University political scientist who was safe from the storm in Miami.
Presidents are measured by the aid and sympathy that follow a big hit from nature, and Moreno said Bush stands to gain as long as he treats the emergency as more than a chance to roll up his sleeves and clear a bit of rubble for the cameras.
"If he looks like he's doing this for a photo opportunity, it's going to backfire on him," he said. "He has to make sure FEMA and the emergency aid responders are working around the clock and without a hitch."
The hurricane bore down not only on the scene-stealing state of the last election, but one of the most politically dynamic parts of it — the western and central counties where both parties are in heated competition for the tens of thousands of non-Cuban Hispanics who have moved there since 2000. Florida offers 27 electoral votes...
(Excerpt) Read more at presstelegram.com ...
I think I typed the URL in correctly but if not just go to yahoo news or AP and check it out
Sick.
Oh for the love of...
Media bias? Whats that?
Imagine what they'd be saying if he waited another 12 hours before declaring this relief availability?
..another damned if he does, damned if he doesn't....I hate the media.
Amazing .....
http://www.fff.org/freedom/0197f.asp
"Clinton's Biggest Disaster Fraud
by James Bovard, January 1997
President Clinton proclaimed in campaign ads last fall that "my job as American president is to take care of the American people." Fewer events present more opportunities for the flaunting of compassion and buying votes than do natural disasters. As a result, under Clinton, the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) has become far more high-profile and generous than ever before...."
Bush should ask the house and senate to vote for or against several billion dollars for emergency help for Florida. Would the democrats vote against it. I think not. Bush is right. The AP can go FT.
The Democrats and the mainstream media are frantic. John Kerry is imploding, and the Democrats and their lackeys will do or say anything to make GW Bush look bad! Just remember, Michael Moore, George Soros, Ben Affleck, Harvey Weinstein, Richard Clarke, Joe Wilson, etc. and millions of both hard and soft money have done nothing for Kerry but keep him in a tie, with a President that has really just begun his serious campaign. The Swift Boat Vets and their one hundred thousand dollar ad have begun the major destruction of John Kerry!
Were were trapped for 4 days (3 weeks before power was restored), unable get out of our neighborhood (every road was blocked) and we patrolled our area with shotguns as the cops or rescue, overwhelmed to begin with, couldn't get in or out.
It was damn near 2 1/2 days before we heard a damn thing from the state and about 4 days before the Feds got their sh*t together.
We finally started to see military choppers ferrying supplies into Homestead almost a WEEK after the storm.
Governor Childs and Bush Sr. took major hell for the lax response. They damned well deserved it!
Friggin African countries get faster responses in times of disaster. Bush had better treat this as a political problem!!
I have two friends (married) that lost everything they had per Andrew. They moved back to N.M. to start over.
I think the figure is 100,000 left South Florida after Andrew.
I pray this one is not that serious.
Rush was right, again. He predicted this very reaction from the media regarding hurricane Charley on Thursday's show.
On one of the hurricane threads yesterday, several posters described seeing many power company vehicles and trucks laden with building supplies already heading toward Florida. Hopefully lessons from Andrew will help those who suffered through Charley.
I can't fathom what you went through - patrolling with shotguns - serious business.
Picture? :(
If Iraq settles down and things go well there... It is Bush politicizing it in his favor.
If Afghanistan holds its elections before our election, it is because Bush politicized it.
If Osama bid Laden is captured, it is because Bush politicized it.
Why won't the press just report the news and leave the commentary to the people who make money on selling their opinions?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.