Is the 'Cajun Grandma' Getting a Bad Rap?

Sept. 12, 2005 — -- It was four days after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast and Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, standing at a podium with dark circles under her eyes, warned rioters and looters in New Orleans that the National Guard troops were under orders to "shoot and kill."

The statement made headlines in many newspapers, mostly unflattering to Blanco, a Democrat, but it also thrust her further into the spotlight after the horrific natural disaster that devastated New Orleans. As she becomes a recurring feature on national newscasts, many outside Louisiana are wondering, "Who is this woman?"

Blanco, 62, is a rarity, a female governor of a big Southern state. As a rising political star in a Southern state, Blanco made many firsts. In 1984, she became the first woman ever elected to the state legislature to represent the city of Lafayette. Five years later, she became the first woman commissioner elected to the Public Service Commission. Four years into her tenure, she became the commission's first chairwoman (1993-94).

Blanco's ascendancy to the governorship was tinged with some controversy. Her narrow victory over Bobby Jindal in a November 2003 runoff raised questions of race. Some pundits suggested that many white Louisianans had voted for Blanco as a vote against Jindal, the son of immigrants from India.

Nevertheless, she was nicknamed the "Cajun Grandma" and won the election to become the top elected official in the state.

As governor, she was one of the first of Louisiana's elected officials who Americans saw and heard from after the Hurricane Katrina catastrophe.

She has received criticism both from other public officials and commentators in the press.

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican, was one of several politicians who said that Blanco was at fault for problems with the Katrina relief effort.

"The buck stops with the governor," he said.

Blanco publicly denied a rift with the Bush administration, but tensions continue. She complained on Friday that radio equipment and portable generators she requested from the federal government a week ago had yet to arrive.

Blanco "has come across as a nice person," wrote New York Post columnist Deborah Orin, but she seems "overwhelmed instead of inspiring."