"It Was Katrina That Broke The Sense That Republicans Could Govern Well" [View All]

[CatWoman]

so sayeth Newt Gingrich.

Got to give that turd credit for being right just once this year - much like a broken clock:

Katrina's Damage to Bush's Standing Still Haunts His Presidency

By Brendan Murray

Aug. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Hurricane Katrina's flood waters have long since receded. The human toll and political wreckage wrought by the killer storm continue to haunt George W. Bush almost a year later.

As the president and still-reeling Gulf Coast residents prepared to mark Katrina's anniversary, political experts say that dismay over Bush's response to the disaster continues to undermine public confidence in his managerial abilities.

``It was Katrina that broke the sense that the Republicans could govern well,'' former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said in an interview. Bush ``was still seen before Katrina as a relatively strong leader, and somewhere in this process there was a substantial erosion because Americans were shocked'' by the government's failure to perform.

Bush has never appeared comfortable talking about the catastrophe, and the storm's continuing ability to bedevil him makes it a domestic counterpart to the Iraq war -- a setback that fundamentally altered perceptions of a presidency.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=washingtonstory&sid=ak5UNysg2AqI