Reply #1: Nagin is a Republican. He only ran as a Democrat because... [View All]

[Maddy McCall]

he knew that black New Orleanians would not vote for a Republican, black or white.

I know that you--and most of DU--know this, but I think that his ineffectiveness as post-Katrina mayor is grounded in that very day that he decided to run as a Democrat.

The irony is, had he remained a Republican and been elected (which wouldn't have happened, but let's just hypothesize for a second), he would have received a much more substantial disaster response from the Republican administration. So many Republicans praise Haley Barbour's emergency response and ability to get funding for Mississippians post Katrina (the truth of Barbour's effectiveness is debatable)--it wasn't that Barbour was anything special as far as a leader; it was that Barbour had the right connections to the Bush administration. Imagine if Nagin had remained a Republican and been elected: he would have received better relief response and funding, and the right would have hailed him a hero much as they do Barbour.

Edited misspelled words.