This is more interesting by who WASN't there then by who was.
No Governor Blanco, no Senator Landreau. I suppose they have cast their fate to the wind. Mayor Nagin, on the other hand, who USED to be a Republican, seems to be right in the thick of it. Nagin could be useful in grooming a new society and culture of New Orleans, one, dare I say it, of a more conservative bent.
Then again Nagin is the Mayor of NO and should be there. Thus my political speculation is for nought.
I had always though Nagin only switched parties because of the truth that New Orleans was 70% black (meaning, 70% Democratic, at base)
One thing people forget about New Orleans is that, in Orleans Parish itself, Bush won the white vote. While it is true they have a gay community, and it is true they are run by Democrats, I never thought of New Orleans as a liberal city. With a few minor exceptions, New Orleans has always been a certain way, few places in America resist change more than it. One thing that could be done is to bring back the New Orleans of my fathers time, the New Orleans that was the one area of Louisiana that actually stood up to Huey Long, etc.
I met Nagin several times, all on business trips, (before Katrina), he seemed to me to be an intelligent man, a man who gave a damn about the city, and he has impressed me in office, most people not from the coast don't realize that more than any Mayor in recent history, he tried to root out corruption, and he cracked down on the brake-tags (I never understood what one of those was)
No, I think you are correct to notice who wasn't there. And the timing is significant as well - just one day after Blanco's testimony on the Hill.