Political storms unabated in Bush New Orleans trip

WACO, Texas: President George W. Bush returns to hurricane-ravaged New Orleans on Wednesday seeking to fend off the latest fallout from a political storm that has battered his popularity and shows no sign of blowing over.

Bush’s trip, his 10th to the city since Hurricane Katrina, comes amid fresh scrutiny of his administration’s botched response to the disaster, high on a list of troubles that have shaken public confidence in the president in his second term.

With his approval ratings at or near an all-time low, Bush hopes to refocus attention on his $19.8 billion request to Congress for new aid to the Gulf Coast to reassure residents he is following through on his promise to help them rebuild.

The increase in federal funds has stirred hopes, but many in New Orleans remain frustrated by the slow pace of progress on the ground, especially in poor, predominantly black neighborhoods hardest hit by massive flooding after the Aug. 29 storm.

“It’s a shame to call this America,” said Briscoe Brazella as he pulled waterlogged belongings from his home in the city’s Lower Ninth Ward. “If this was America as God intended ... every home here would just about be rebuilt by now.”

More than six months after Katrina struck, much of New Orleans, once best known as a boozy tourist mecca that lived by the motto “Let the good times roll,” is still in ruins.

Barely a third of its nearly half a million inhabitants have returned and it’s not clear how many more will. Bush has faced new criticism over a video showing officials warning him the day before Katrina hit that levees meant to protect New Orleans from flooding could fail.

Critics said it made it hard to accept the White House’s insistence that it was surprised by the storm’s intensity. A Washington Post-ABC News poll showed that more than six in 10 Americans disapprove of the way Bush handled Katrina.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan has maintained that while Bush was not satisfied with the federal response, the video had been “twisted” out of context.

But Wayne Parent, a political scientist at Louisiana State University, said: “Bush has to do some damage control.” Bush’s trip, coupled with a stop in Gulfport, Mississippi, comes as he is struggling to pull up his job performance ratings, which dropped to 34 percent in a CBS News poll last week.

Katrina is only one of a list of woes that have damaged the administration’s credibility. Others include growing pessimism over the Iraq war and Bush’s failure to head off tempests such as a Dubai firm’s plan to take over key U.S. port operations.

Waco, Texas, Wednesday, Reuters.