Hey, A Year Is Only 365 Days

The President is out trying to manage expectations in the wake of the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

President Bush cautioned against placing too much importance on the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s Gulf Coast strike, saying Wednesday it will take a long, sustained effort to rebuild the area.

“It’s a time to remember that people suffered and it’s a time to recommit ourselves to helping them,” Bush said. “But I also want people to remember that a one-year anniversary is just that, because it’s going to require a long time to help these people rebuild.”

The president promised to continue working to make sure the federal government’s efforts in the rebuilding effort are efficient.

A year is a heck of a long time for someone to be living in a tent or trailer. A year is a very long time for people whose homes were demolished to receive financial aid (many have had money appropriated to them but no checks cut). A year is far too long for the Lower 9th Ward to look like this:





(these photos were taken in mid-March by Louis Maistros.)

Digby has a good post up about this, saying basically that the Republicans are masters of stagecraft and the media will be all too willing to portray their photo-ops as a sign of amazing progress. The Democrats had better be prepared for this with some stagecraft of their own, which highlights the broken promises and mismanagement that has left New Orleans residents at risk. This blurb offers soome hope that they're at least thinking about it:

A report being released today by top Democrats, titled "Broken Promises: The Republican Response to Katrina," features a picture of Bush from his Sept. 15, 2005, speech in New Orleans' Jackson Square in which he promised to oversee "one of the largest reconstruction efforts the world has ever seen."

The report argues that every aspect of the Gulf Coast recovery — housing, business loans, health care, education, future preparedness — "suffers from a failed Republican response marked by unfulfilled promises, cronyism, waste, fraud and abuse."

Democratic leaders recently distributed packets to lawmakers, advising them to attend religious services in their districts and community events commemorating the anniversary and to coordinate with local civil-rights organizations — all to accentuate the GOP's failings.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is scheduled to spend Thursday in New Orleans with Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., to kick off what they call the "Hope and Recovery Tour." House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., plans to arrive this weekend with about 20 other Democrats for additional events.

Democrats said they intended to respond aggressively as the White House seeks to frame the Katrina story. In a conference call with reporters, Reid tied Katrina to broader questions of national security in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Of course, this is at the END of the story about what the White House is doing from a PR standpoint to counter Democratic efforts. They don't call it the bully pulpit for nothing. The Democrats had better get their game faces on and make sure their message gets into these anniversary stories in a balanced way.