Hurricane Offers Political Silver Lining

[Rose Siding]

WASHINGTON -- Once Hurricane Charley is gone from Florida, it's a safe bet President Bush will sweep in. Natural calamities present political opportunity, and many crucial electoral votes are in the path of Charley's howling winds.

Bush swiftly issued a disaster declaration to expedite federal aid as Charley tore into the Florida Gulf Coast on Friday. He was acting on a request that had come from his brother Jeb, the governor, even before the ferocious storm made landfall. The president was expected to visit the area in the aftermath.

Officials are loath to ascribe campaign motives to emergency response, but politics infuses everything this close to an election. No more so than in the state that handed Bush the presidency.

"This provides both opportunities and real dangers for the president," said Dario Moreno, a Florida International University political scientist who was safe from the storm in Miami....MORE....

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-disaster-politics,0,2317307.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

1. Especially after Poppy dragged his feet with Andrew

The two younger Bubbas learned to act as though they care.

[TaleWgnDg]

15. my sentiments, exactly . . .

these were my very first thoughts about Hurricane Charley . . . how can Dumbya make "hay" out of it? Simple. Toss federal taxpayers money into the fray . . . appear w/ a bullhorn next to a few guys in uniform of some sort . . . *camera* *camera* *camera*

and there ya go! instant votes! doncha just LUV these Bushes?

[NewYorkerfromMass]

23. Just add one plastic turkey

and voila!

[TOhioLiberal]

2. Oh Sure....

...Bush's response is in NO WAY political in nature...:eyes: He's just so WORRIED about the fine vot...Ah, people of Florida.
(sarcasm off)

[Beetwasher]

3. I'll Bet He'll Show Up On A Pile Of Rubble W/ A Bullhorn! GUARANTEED!

Anyone wanna bet?

[bahrbearian]

7. How about the deck of a large beached vessel, in a flight suit.

[TaleWgnDg]

16. . . . nah, odds are too damn hi in your favor !!

just more cheap shots from Mr. Empty Suit in the White House!

[qanda]

4. I saw a news conference where Gov. Jeb was getting pounded

For concentrating the warnings in the Tampa Bay area and not enough in other areas. Those kind of things aren't really his fault, but somebody has to take the blame.

[Heyo]

10. Well...

I think the NHC sets the watches and warnings, but I'm not 100 percent sure.... am I wrong?

Heyo

[FloridaPat]

5. Listening to Jeb has been miserable. He is a much better speaker

than his brother - but not too much. Still says strange things. Can't we get Clinton back!

The interesting thing is with 14 bases being built in Iraq, the cost of wood and other building materials has gone way up. So fixing things up here will be more expensive than normal. Then there is the national guard. Most of it is in Iraq. And where are the Feds going to get money to pay for all this???

[bahrbearian]

8. Jeb was taught speech by his older brother.

can you imagine the conversations at their dinner table. Stop it I kill myself.

[undergroundrailroad]

18. LOL!

UGRR

[slojim240]

6. How do we if Charlie isn't punishment for 2000 election?

Isn't that what Jerry and Pat would say?

[AndyTiedye]

9. Where Is The National Guard?

It's 7:30 and Charlie just ripped the door down.
Do You Know Where Your National Guard is?

[graywarrior]

11. The Bush Death Sniffers

Always on the doorstep of tragedy, taking advantage, mimicing saviors.

[KC21304]

12. Hey, that's good. Are they asking that in Florida ?

[daa]

13. Its a huge MINUS

Havanna got a direct hit and when chimpy forbids the Cubans from sending dollars to their families in Cuba he will lose the group he has been courting.

[TaleWgnDg]

14. well said . . .

:toast:

[ilovenicepeople]

34. Bush is going to send Cuba $50,000 to "help" them

Help them do what? Chump change from a CHUMP

[mom cat]

17. How is Havanna doing after Charlie?

[KamaAina]

19. Not the greatest : 4 dead, hundreds of buildings down

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040814/wl_nm/weather_charley_cuba_dc_2

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cubans used machetes to hack away thousands of uprooted trees blocking Havana streets on Friday after a night of roaring winds from Hurricane Charley brought chaos to the blacked-out city.

Four people died during the hurricane, two of them crushed under collapsed houses, one hit by a palm tree and one man who drowned in the port of Mariel, Civil Defense official Lt. Col. Domingo Carretero said on a television newscast.

Charley's 105-mph winds destroyed 1,129 houses and caused the partial collapse of another 1,200 in the Cuban capital and the surrounding countryside of Havana province, Carretero said....

On Cuba's south coast, where Charley made landfall just after midnight, storm surges caused flooding, and hurricane winds left standing only 12 of the 300 houses of the fishing village El Cajio, government-run television said.

And you can imagine what their chances of receiving any aid from their neighbor* to the north are...

[mom cat]

20. Thanks for your reply even though it saddened me greatly.

I re-posted it in Latest Breaking News and credited you as the original poster and already there have been some replies. I am so moved by the responsiveness of DU'ers whenever I ask a question. Thank you again. :yourock:

[bleedingheart]

21. He will screw it up cuz he will try and CHEAP OUT! Think CA Wildfires

Every Floridian who has lost a loved one or had their home destroyed as a result of this hurricane will have to be attended too and taken care of or else Bush will lose voters.

Many of the people affected by the CA wildfire have still not rebuilt their homes...some still haven't gotten their FEMA or insurance money.

How long before you hear the media present stories like "living in florida...a big risk"... and other stupidity to make the victims of the hurricane look like they "asked for it".

[kayell]

22. He won't cheap out FL. CA voted the wrong way, while * owes a big debt

to Jeb. Expect to see record aid to FL, above and beyond what his brother asks for possibly.

[davhill]

24. Call out the FL National Guard

Except we used them all up in Iraq.

[bluedog]

27. photo op my ass

I wish one of my neighbors would ask him where the hell the guard is. We are asking for volunteers to help down help.....the area is a mess and our guard is over in Iraq.......helping the Iraqis but not helping its own CITIZENS.........yes I am pissed to all hell.

My county Pinellas was evacuated Friday night.(I lived in E zone) and stayed.....my friends moved inward to Orlando.Polk county..they headed right for the path of the storm.......

What pisses me off.is they stated Charlie is coming in like Donna did.......well damn it.Donna came in at Fort Meyers and crossed over the state to Daytona..........these inland areas should have had the same warning we had to get the hell out.....

Like I said.photo op my ass......

[bleedingheart]

25. I will believe it when I see it.

he is famous for his "underfunding"

[sleepyhead]

26. Yep. He needs to have them on his side now.

Record aid and multiple trips to the disaster area, and we'll probably be hearing about all that "compassion" right up to Nov. 2. After that, dead silence and quietly cutting back on funding.

[annabanana]

30. You Got THAT Right!

There will be much press about swift and generous help from the feds (on borrowed $ of course). Until the election.

[murray hill farm]

28. Florida

It takes many years to rebuild after such a storm..many, many years. I hope that immediate help comes soon to those who need that help. I used to live in Florida..just north of Flagler Beach. Does anyone know how that area is doing?

[bluedog]

29. link to Flager Beach News

http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Special/Cane/03CaneCANE01081204.htm

[murray hill farm]

31. Thanks bluedog

I will check out that link. Do you live in Flagler Beach?

[bluedog]

36. no............St Petersburg

for 22 years now.transplant from Batavia NY

[leesa]

32. I wonder if he will notice that there is not enough National Guard to go

around. Or if he will notice that Jeb has so looted the Florida treasury and he has so looted the federal treasury that there will be few funds to be directed to the disaster. I bet Floridians will notice.

[MetaTrope]

33. Remember Bush controls the weather with those satellites

Like the time Alberto Gonzales never had to give his Funeralgate testimony because of the storm that knocked out eastern Texas...

[GaryL]

35. The ghouls descend.

More photo ops of the idiot in chief.

[progressivebydesign]

37. I did notice that Bush declared a disaster almost before it hit!

Even though he usually drags his feet in non-battleground states. Hell.. how many days did it take him to visit NY Ground Zero??? And he's already on his way to Florida. Not to take anything away from the utter destruction and heartbreak in Florida.. but Bush certainly treats them much better than the rest of us.