McCain tours still-battered New Orleans neighborhood

NEW ORLEANS -- Surrounded by gutted homes and piles of construction debris in this city's Lower 9th Ward, Sen. John McCain promised Thursday the federal government will not be so slow-footed the next time it responds to a Katrina-sized disaster if he becomes president.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee toured a residential street in the neighborhood with his wife, Cindy McCain, and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, also a Republican, before addressing about 50 activists, journalists and Katrina survivors in front of a local church. He also attended a town hall meeting at Xavier University, a predominately African-American institution in New Orleans.

"Never again will we experience such mishandling of natural disasters and the suffering that ensues from it," McCain said. "There are so many lessons that are learned and need to be learned."

McCain's visit to New Orleans was the last of a four-stop tour that included poverty-stricken towns in Ohio and Kentucky, as well as Selma, Ala., site of a 1965 bloody civil rights confrontation.

Despite the senator's promise to help speed up recovery here, McCain's voting record on Katrina-related legislation has dismayed local leaders and residents. In 2006, he voted against appropriating $109 billion in supplemental emergency funding, including $28 billion for hurricane relief, and twice opposed establishing a commission to study the response to Hurricane Katrina. In 2005, McCain also voted against allowing up to 52 weeks of unemployment benefits to individuals affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Lower 9th Ward residents welcomed the renewed spotlight on their battered neighborhood but were cautiously optimistic about the senator's visit.

"We're going to hope for the best," said Linda Jackson, president of the Lower 9th Ward Homeowners Association, who chatted briefly with McCain during his walk. "It's always a wait-and-see game here in the Lower 9th Ward."

Jindal's appearance next to the senator rekindled speculation that the 36-year-old governor could be named McCain's running mate in the upcoming presidential elections. McCain downplayed the idea, saying he valued Jindal as a friend and leader but had not involved him in the vice president selection process.