One Governor's Stock Rises Post-Katrina; Another's Falls

By Emily Wagster Pettus
The Associated Press

BILOXI — After Hurricane Katrina roared in, Gov. Haley Barbour quickly convened a special legislative session and, just 10 days after the storm, appointed a commission to study rebuilding Mississippi's coastline.

The former Republican National Committee chairman and influential Washington lobbyist also traveled to the nation's capital several times to extract promises of federal aid from friends in the Bush administration.

Because of the Barbour's take-charge approach to the disaster, even some of Mississippi's staunchest Democrats are saying he may be tough to beat if he seeks a second term in 2007.

In Louisiana, it is a different story. Some pundits suspect Democratic Gov. Kathleen Blanco could prove to be a one-termer when she comes up for re-election the same year — either because of her hurricane response or simply because Katrina has scattered many of Blanco's Democratic supporters to other states, and it's not clear when, or even if, they'll return.

Some critics — particularly Republicans, but also some Democrats — say Blanco was overwhelmed by the disaster and paralyzed with indecision. They say she was too slow to call for federal assistance as Katrina approached and in the first days after the storm, when New Orleans descended into chaos.

She did not appoint her rebuilding commission until weeks after Katrina, by which time the Mississippi recovery group had already held its first meetings with nationally known architects and urban planners.

And only now, more than two months after Katrina, is Blanco bringing Louisiana lawmakers into session to work on hurricane reconstruction. The session opens on Sunday with an extensive agenda that extends beyond immediate hurricane relief.

Both governors have detractors.

"Louisiana is bleeding to death and there has been no stoppage of the bleeding. That is uniquely and specifically the governor's job, and I don't think Kathleen Blanco, personally or otherwise, is up to the task and may never be again," said Elliott Stonecipher, a Louisiana pollster and political analyst.

Robert S. McElvaine, a political science professor at Millsaps College in Jackson, said Barbour is too willing to praise the Federal Emergency Management Agency and spin the administration line in a disaster that bruised the president's own approval ratings.

"He has just set himself up as a cheerleader for what Bush and FEMA did. That is totally contrary to the facts," McElvaine said.

Political analysts warn that it is way too early to write anyone off or declare someone's future is assured. But in Katrina's aftermath, it is clear that in the two neighboring states, one governor's political stock has gone up, while the other's has fallen precipitously.

In Blanco's defense, analysts note that she does not enjoy the same buddy-buddy relationship that Barbour has with President Bush. During one of the president's trips to Louisiana, Blanco learned of Bush's schedule from reporters, not from the White House. And if Blanco seemed overwhelmed by Katrina, she was not alone.

"George Bush seems overwhelmed by it all, too," said Joseph Parker, a University of Southern Mississippi political scientist.

In many ways, Blanco and Barbour are dealing with two very different disasters created by Katrina, which roared ashore Aug. 29.

"Not to underestimate what happened in Mississippi, but Louisiana faced bigger challenges," said Vanderbilt University political scientist Marc Hetherington.

In Mississippi, the storm obliterated whole coastal communities, smashed waterfront casinos and left tens of thousands homeless. Most victims, however, are still living near their former homes, though in tents or government trailers.

In Louisiana, Katrina devastated a major American city, trapped thousands in hellish conditions and forced a half-million people from their homes. Many of them are still scattered around the country, and New Orleans, a major driver of the state's economy, remains mostly shut down. Katrina killed at least 1,050 people in Louisiana and 228 in Mississippi.

A second hurricane, Rita, dealt Louisiana a follow-up blow on Sept. 24.

Barbour called Mississippi lawmakers into a nine-day special session starting Sept. 27 to take up recovery issues, including a bill, now signed into law, to let coast casinos move off the water and rebuild on dry land.

Meanwhile, Blanco still was grappling with Hurricane Rita. The special session that starts Sunday will address an enormous budget hole and other hurricane problems. She has put more than 75 items on the agenda, including proposals for stronger statewide building codes.

Blanco blamed the late appointment of her rebuilding commission on Hurricane Rita, and Louisiana lawmakers had begun to complain about the slow pace of the governor's reconstruction efforts. She pledged the commission would work quickly.

Blanco has dismissed much of the criticism of her performance as "a little bit of high politics."

Barbour likes to say that Mississippians are "not into victimhood," and he boasts that they are "hitching up their britches" and taking charge of their own recovery — remarks that could be seen as slaps at Louisiana.

"People say to me, 'Governor, are you upset that all of the news coverage is of New Orleans?' And I tell them, 'The news media, they don't get paid to cover airplanes that land safely. They get paid to cover those places where things are going bad,"' Barbour said. "Well, in Mississippi things weren't going bad."

Mississippi state Rep. Bobby Moak, a Democrat, strongly opposes Barbour's positions on such issues as Medicaid and education. But on Katrina, Moak said: "I have to say Haley has done a pretty good job of putting his arms around the issue."

Moak said Democrats would have a tough time against Barbour now, but noted that the election is two years away, and "six months is a lifetime in politics."

Many of the early assessments of Blanco's performance after Katrina were dismal. Even Blanco supporters acknowledge problems, but they say there's plenty of blame to go around.

"No one came out smelling like a champ the first 96 hours of the crisis," said Democratic strategist Donna Brazile, a Louisiana native.

Others say Blanco's response to Rita was much more assertive. She marshaled state assets, requested federal assistance and pushed for a big evacuation of southwestern Louisiana.

"At first her performance was a disaster, and she and her own people recognize it, but I've noticed the change," said Larry Sabato, a political scientist at the University of Virginia. "She's projecting a more decisive image. She's taking very responsible actions and stances."

Hetherington, at Vanderbilt, said even before Katrina, both Mississippi and Louisiana had been leaning more Republican.

"Barbour," he said, "is not going to have the same types of challenges with the electorate that Blanco's going to have."