Bush didn't do any good at Ground Zero, either, except to rally the responders and show the nation he would lead us through the crisis. I'm sure he'll go down there sometime the next few days, but I think he made a mistake by just flying over in Air Force One.
The President can't just fly in LA or MS and walk around shaking people's hand. The security involved in a Presidential visit is staggering. Gov. Haley Barbour asked the President NOT to come for a visit for a few days. His police force can't sustain a visit right now.
What do you suppose the President should do today by going to LA? People are walking around the city in six feet of water filled with human sewage and dead bodies. It is not safe right now for the President to be in that city. I would say the same thing if the President were a democrat.
That said Wendal Goller just said the President would be in LA and MS on Friday and Sunday.