Posted on 09/11/2005 10:34:04 PM PDT by Graybeard58
BATON ROUGE -- No matter what she might do from this day forward, Gov. Kathleen Blanco has already secured her spot in Louisiana history books. Historians, pundits and public opinion, however, are still crafting the exact verbiage and tone of the words that will ultimately define her.
When Hurricane Katrina slammed the New Orleans area two weeks ago, sending a storm surge into the city through Lake Pontchartrain, her fate was sealed. The governor was forced to react and regroup and is already dealing with criticism that she didn’t do enough during those early days.
Kirby Goidel, director of the Public Policy Research Lab at Louisiana State University, said the natural disaster has taken the governor out of her element. Blanco, a Democrat, was not elected as a crisis manager, he said, but rather as a sound choice that could make slow and steady progress.
"This places her in a situation that is pretty difficult as far as the expectations coming into it," Goidel said. "She has not been a steady progressive, not taking giant steps forward, just incrementally improving the state in different areas. In this last gubernatorial election, she seemed to be a safe choice, the person who would be successful but not radically different from the past. Now she has to make major strides."
As for public reaction, Goidel added a great deal of media scrutiny has involved party politics, but in Louisiana, it’s being judged on a sliding scale with the governor, President Bush and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin as focal points.
"Most of the reaction as far as who is responsible and who is at fault has been driven by partisanship," he said. "It seems to me that Republicans are blaming the governor and Democrats are blaming the president. The only person I’ve heard a whole lot of positive about is Mayor Ray Nagin. President Bush has probably suffered the most from this all, and Blanco has suffered some. Blanco would be in between, into the continuum, with Bush on one end and Nagin on the other."
As for what the public has seen on television and read about in media reports, the governor’s emotions have been all over the map in the aftermath
of Hurricane Katrina. But it’s nothing new to voters -- the governor shed tears during a 2003 debate when she recounted how one of her sons lost his life. Still, her performance in recent weeks has resulted in mixed reactions.
ëIT’S HEARTBREAKING’
When the storm made landfall Aug. 29, Blanco addressed reporters with direction, clearly explaining what would transpire in coming days and expressing hope that the storm could still weaken as it crossed coastal Louisiana.
But the following day, as water poured over levees in the New Orleans region, Blanco appeared noticeably grave. Following a flyover of the impacted areas, she addressed reporters on the growing population of the Superdome, biting her lip as tears welled in her eyes and slightly gasping for breath on occasions.
"It’s heartbreaking," the governor whimpered, looking tired and drained.
At one point, she took a step back to allow the state’s two U.S. senators to address those gathered at the Baton Rouge office of Homeland Security. A top aide to the governor later said she was "seriously disturbed" by the images from those first days.
By the end of the first week, as looting and civil unrest grasped New Orleans, Blanco began to show some steadiness. Shifting from one foot to another, chomping at the bit to get each word out, the governor referred to looters as "hoodlums," nodding her head with each syllable. She said some 300 National Guard members from Arkansas were flying into New Orleans with the express task of reclaiming the city.
"They have M-16s, and they are locked and loaded," she said.
The end of the week also brought a personal visit from President Bush. According to several media reports quoting White House officials, the president asked Blanco if she wanted the federal government to take control of the evacuation of New Orleans. Her response, based on reports, was that she needed 24 hours to think about it.
Roy Fletcher, a political consultant from Shreveport who formerly served as deputy campaign manager for the presidential bid of Republican U.S. Sen. John McCain and the gubernatorial campaign of Mike Foster, said such decisions indicate the governor’s leadership broke down during the first week.
Fletcher, who handles both Democrats and Republicans, likens the evacuation process to a "herding program" in which people were hindered rather than helped. He has even circulated a column he wrote on the subject through the Internet.
"What the hell were Governor Blanco and her staff thinking in the 48 hours prior to Hurricane Katrina?" Fletcher asked. "Apparently, they weren’t thinking. In fact, there’s a growing sense that there’s not a brain cell among them. … This is the kind of incompetence that demands the impeachment of a public official."
GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBILITIES
Former Gov. Charles "Buddy" Roemer, a Republican convert who served from 1988-1992, said it’s "very mixed" when it comes to how the current administration has handled Hurricane Katrina. While Roemer places blame on the Federal Emergency Management Agency and U.S. Department of Homeland Security, calling for the resignation of leaders from both agencies, he said Blanco has some responsibilities to shoulder as well.
"She has her share of the blame," he said. "She ran for the job. But what I like about her is she has not quit. She is unafraid to cry and unafraid to learn. And I’m not going to put it at her feet. I put it our feet. Maybe past governor didn’t educate enough in the past about hurricanes."
As a former governor and now a businessman, Roemer said he must look at the situation through two sets of eyes.
"A political answer would be that it has been an overwhelming crisis and anyone would have had a problem," he said. "She hasn’t run. She has rolled up her sleeves, and I like that. A totally honest answer, with all the bark off, is no governor has ever faced this kind of crisis. It’s new ground. My hope is she’ll get more help from the federal government, which I think has let her down, and she’ll lead in terms of planning for the future."
Jim Brandt, president of the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, a nonprofit group that monitors the activity of state government, agrees that some blame should be thrust upon all former governors, as well as other local and federal agencies.
"You look at the policies from the past 10 or 15 or 20 years with coastal erosion and what we’ve done and not done and you see everyone knew this day would come," Brandt said. "Everyone just assumed it wouldn’t be under their watch, and the good fortune ran out."
For now, Brandt said, PAR will focus all of its energies on policy issues related to Katrina, an effort the Legislature will soon be forced to follow.
ëA TOUGH LADY’
State officials are still unsure what kind of impact Hurricane Katrina will have on the state budget, but most estimates are dire. State Sen. Jay Dardenne, R-Baton Rouge, said about $12 million of emergency money will be injected into the budget from the Interim Emergency Fund, but even that is unlikely to make a significant dent.
"It’s a miniscule amount," he said. "Nothing as we know it in state government will ever be the same over the next 10 years."
The governor and others will be required to rethink spending priorities, Dardenne said, and balance it with the need to rebuild and bolster south Louisiana. Money currently being raised through a namesake charity by former presidents -- the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund -- will be turned over to state governors to use as they see fit, and that should ease the process, he added.
Dardenne said "there’s no question" that a special legislative session will have to be held soon to reinvent the state’s current operating budget, which took effect July 1, and the Revenue Estimating Panel will also need to meet in coming weeks.
Though the outlook is dire, Dardenne predicted the state would be taking on more employees to handle hurricane-related work or to fill in positions being vacated due to disaster-relief efforts.
"The current operating budget is not reflective of what our priorities will be going forward," he said.
Another state lawmaker has high hopes for the governor, even during these desperate times. Rep. Troy Hebert, D-Jeanerette, was stripped of his chairmanship of the House Insurance Committee last year after he voted against one of Blanco’s tax proposals. In return, he dubbed Blanco "Queen Bee."
From that experience, Hebert said he learned a little bit about what the governor is made of.
"It’s pretty obvious she can be a tough lady, and if there was ever a time to be tough, this is it," he said. "And from what I’m seeing on TV, that toughness is coming out."
She truly is a pig. She said all those buses couldn't have been used because they were flooded. Flooded BEFORE the hurricane? God damn all democrats.
What the hell, it's all Bush's fault anyway :)
Criminally
incompetent
irresponsible
misfeasance
malfeasance
corrupt
clueless
half-wit
manslaughter
prison
Those are the words all right. She is truly blanko.
OMG.
Bullshit; our gov is the last person all that money needs to be dumped on. Let the two Senators oversee the distributon of the "pot o gold"!
It a standard style of speech for that kind of political woman. I have heard much the same from state employees: aggressive, ignorant, never willing to concede a single obvious fact.
In times "past" the entire nation would pull together in a disaster like this, and a great feeling of NATIONHOOD would evolve. The Democrat Party did otherwise on Katrina. Divided the nation and maybe NATIONHOOD. They have much to answer for!
Dem talking points n'est pas?!!!!
Huh?!
A more staggering incompetent in recent American history I cannot recall.
Wrong by 1/2-3/4in.
I'm still waiting for the specifics as to why this agency is to blame.
The only reason she was elected was because of the black block democratic vote in Orleans, and Jefferson parish in that order. She served them well.
Sounds democratic eh what?
Bureaucratic incompetent control freak.
AKA
A dumb lawyer...
I saw the fight between Wallace and Landreiu on FOX. That was the stupidest politician I have ever seen on TV, and that includes some real RAT nut-jobs. Between the mayor, governor and senators, the people of NO are royally screwed.
BTW, the words I would pick are 'corrupt' and "criminally incompetent".
Blanco, a Democrat, was not elected as a crisis manager, he said, but rather as a sound choice that could make slow and steady progress.
The Governor is the President of his or her state. The Governor is supposed to be a leader. A leader who cannot handle a crisis is worthless.
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