"Slow and awkward, Bush mishandled the storm's first days."
Exactly right! The president made the mistake of assuming that SOMEONE was actually running LA.
Had someone actully been in charge and leading in LA the federal response would have been supportive and secondary.
Actually, I don't think even that is true. It's clear from the conversations that have been released held between Bush and Blanco, and the fact the President begged her to evacuate and urged citizens to evacuate (unusual for Presidents) that he knew they weren't competant. His problem is that the President couldn't act outside the Constitution.