Mood Turns Against Federal Katrina Response

Sept. 2, 2005 — -- Unquestionably, the signal political development of the last 24 hours has been the coalescing of a consensus view among elites that the federal response has been inadequate.

The images and the tone of the network TV coverage are problematic for the political leadership at all levels.

But the national media are focused -- fairly or not -- on the Washington response.

Even the Bush administration overnight stepped back from fully defending the quality of the effort, with White House aides telling at least one news organization that the president is angry over the slow response -- a sure sign that the administration realizes that it needs to "turn the page" on the perception that it hasn't done enough.

"The results are not acceptable," said President Bush to reporters before departing the White House for the region. He added that he was "looking forward to assure people that we'll get on top of this situation and we're going to help people that need help."

Clearly, Bush officials (and congressional Republicans) hope that today's Bush visit to the region and a stepped-up arrival of federal aid will erase memories of a slow start.

This is now political -- the 9/11 model of the parties coming together in national crisis is NOT happening here.

But without public opinion polls and in the midst of a summer holiday, the political class doesn't have a clear handle on what the public thinks. Still, they see the television pictures and they know there is trouble.

Some conservative voices have turned in whole or in part against the Bush effort:

The Washington Times, in a scathing editorial: "We're pleased [the president] finally caught a ride home from his vacation, but he risks losing the one trait his critics have never dented: His ability to lead, and be seen leading." (LINK)

The New York Post complains about the federal government's failure to restore order. (LINK)

Democrats to a person are substantively critical of the Bush response and "hopeful" that the perception of mishandling will hurt the president and the Republican Party politically. But most of them are still being publicly quiet.