Obama's Irene response: Leadership or theater?

In direct contrast to George W. Bush during Katrina, President Obama takes center stage to lead the federal government's relief efforts

President Obama speaks with FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate on the aftermath of Hurricane Irene Sunday.
(Image credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

During the East Coast's weekend brush with Hurricane (and later, Tropical Storm) Irene, President Obama personally directed the federal government's response from a disaster command center in Washington. Obama returned a night early from his Martha's Vineyard vacation to coordinate federal and local relief efforts, and received updates from governors as the storm moved up the coast. Plenty of photos and videos of the president undertaking this role — intended, it would seem, to contrast sharply with George W. Bush's near-absence as Hurricane Katrina leveled New Orleans in 2005 — were released to the media. Was this a show of leadership, or an attempt to score political points?

What a partisan "charade": President Obama "isn't competent to organize a Little League baseball team," says John Hinderaker at Power Line, much less a multi-state hurricane relief effort. His photo-op at the disaster center was a "charade" aimed at politicizing the storm — an obvious attempt to make the Obama administration's response look good in comparison to the Katrina fiasco. "This is one more step in the degradation of American politics."

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