Posted on 08/14/2004 3:26:38 AM PDT by Conservative_boy_in_Bangkok
By CALVIN WOODWARD, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Once Hurricane Charley is gone from Florida, it's a safe bet President Bush (news - web sites) 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.
Presidents are measured by the aid and sympathy that follow a big hit from nature, and Moreno said Bush stands to gain as long as he treats the emergency as more than a chance to roll up his sleeves and clear a bit of rubble for the cameras.
"If he looks like he's doing this for a photo opportunity, it's going to backfire on him," he said. "He has to make sure FEMA and the emergency aid responders are working around the clock and without a hitch."
The hurricane bore down not only on the scene-stealing state of the last election, but one of the most politically dynamic parts of it — the western and central counties where both parties are in heated competition for the tens of thousands of non-Cuban Hispanics who have moved there since 2000. Florida offers 27 electoral votes...
(Excerpt) Read more at presstelegram.com ...
I think I typed the URL in correctly but if not just go to yahoo news or AP and check it out
Sick.
Oh for the love of...
Media bias? Whats that?
Imagine what they'd be saying if he waited another 12 hours before declaring this relief availability?
..another damned if he does, damned if he doesn't....I hate the media.
Amazing .....
http://www.fff.org/freedom/0197f.asp
"Clinton's Biggest Disaster Fraud
by James Bovard, January 1997
President Clinton proclaimed in campaign ads last fall that "my job as American president is to take care of the American people." Fewer events present more opportunities for the flaunting of compassion and buying votes than do natural disasters. As a result, under Clinton, the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) has become far more high-profile and generous than ever before...."
Bush should ask the house and senate to vote for or against several billion dollars for emergency help for Florida. Would the democrats vote against it. I think not. Bush is right. The AP can go FT.
The Democrats and the mainstream media are frantic. John Kerry is imploding, and the Democrats and their lackeys will do or say anything to make GW Bush look bad! Just remember, Michael Moore, George Soros, Ben Affleck, Harvey Weinstein, Richard Clarke, Joe Wilson, etc. and millions of both hard and soft money have done nothing for Kerry but keep him in a tie, with a President that has really just begun his serious campaign. The Swift Boat Vets and their one hundred thousand dollar ad have begun the major destruction of John Kerry!
Were were trapped for 4 days (3 weeks before power was restored), unable get out of our neighborhood (every road was blocked) and we patrolled our area with shotguns as the cops or rescue, overwhelmed to begin with, couldn't get in or out.
It was damn near 2 1/2 days before we heard a damn thing from the state and about 4 days before the Feds got their sh*t together.
We finally started to see military choppers ferrying supplies into Homestead almost a WEEK after the storm.
Governor Childs and Bush Sr. took major hell for the lax response. They damned well deserved it!
Friggin African countries get faster responses in times of disaster. Bush had better treat this as a political problem!!
I have two friends (married) that lost everything they had per Andrew. They moved back to N.M. to start over.
I think the figure is 100,000 left South Florida after Andrew.
I pray this one is not that serious.
Rush was right, again. He predicted this very reaction from the media regarding hurricane Charley on Thursday's show.
On one of the hurricane threads yesterday, several posters described seeing many power company vehicles and trucks laden with building supplies already heading toward Florida. Hopefully lessons from Andrew will help those who suffered through Charley.
I can't fathom what you went through - patrolling with shotguns - serious business.
Picture? :(
If Iraq settles down and things go well there... It is Bush politicizing it in his favor.
If Afghanistan holds its elections before our election, it is because Bush politicized it.
If Osama bid Laden is captured, it is because Bush politicized it.
Why won't the press just report the news and leave the commentary to the people who make money on selling their opinions?
A nuclear weapon could not have caused more initial physical damage than what I saw, yet add to that fire and radiation....geesh...not a hope in hell.
It's every man for themself.
Fox News is reporting that hundreds are missing. OMG - I had no idea it was this bad. Prayers continuing.
Me Too!
They do have spell check. Before you post look to the left. A new feature.
Sorry, not for posting articles. They should though.
Jim Robinson, can we get a spell checker for when we post articles?
see post 1
BUSH ORDERS HURRICANE CHARLEY INTO SOUTH FLORIDA TO TAKE POLITICAL ADVANTAGE OF KERRY!
Oh ... well ... There's always tomorrow
First of all, thanks for the prayers. I am in North Central Florida and we are doing OK here, but there are reports on Orlandosentinel.com that hundreds are missing, hopefully they will be accounted for. In the Orlando area, they are saying 170,000 people are without power but I haven't seen any reports of fatalities in that area.
The worst area was Punta Gorda and they still are getting reports in from that area. Orlando was under a curfew last night until 6 am today to prevent injuries from all the damage and to prevent looting of damaged homes and businesses.
Ir regards to Bush using this opportunity, I would like to ask Conservative Boy, are you saying he should not go and try to get started on help for these disaster areas?
One can always cut and paste their proposed contribution in a document that supports spell checking (Word, for instance), make those corrections on the document, then cut and paste back into the body of your message.
Bit of a pain, but if spelling REALLY bothers you...
How about it AP cough up or shut up. You like to criticize, now you can help.
I would like to see a spell check for posting. I have posted and have seen many breaking stories with gross spelling errors. It would help.
Sorry, that post was not very clear- the reports from the orlandosentinel were of hundreds of people missing statewide, not in Orlando area alone. Mainly I think they mean the West coast. Also,if you were planning to go there, they said this morning on the news that the Orlando theme parks plan to be open today as usual. They say they had 500 engineers monitoring the situation all night for the Disney parks. No reports of any major damage to the parks, mainly just clean-up according to the spokesperson on WESH-TV this morning.
The President is not going there for photos ops. He would never do something THAT cheesy. But you can be he'll open the federal treasury to help out the folks in Florida. They'll repay him with gratitude in November.
Actually, I was a lunch lady for seven years but I was not the person doing the food prep, I was a lunchroom monitor trying to make sure everyone left the lunchroom alive. You would not believe what some kids will do with food!! Our school had 970 kids and it was a real challenge to get them all in and out of the lunchroom on time. We had to get over 300 kids an hour in and out. The school was only built for 650 so we were way overcrowded.
No doubt this will help the president not becaus he's trying to be sneaky or whatever but it will help because he's doing the right thing by helping people, and ya have to respect that. His motives are pure, its the liberal media that is already trying to smear things.
And that was the downfall of GWs Fathers election. If GHW Bush had got off his high horse and personally saw to it that things got done faster down there after Andrew, he might have won that election.
If Bush didn't respond to this with dispatch, he'd be accused of not caring. If he does respond, he's a political opportunist. We can only hope the voter who half pays attention finally figures out what lowlifes these liberals are.
These people make me want to puke.
"peace be still" if Bushed walked on water they would bash him for for scaring the fish.
I know, I'm surprised hanoi john hasn't made statements to the fact it's Dubya's fault.
What I find stunning in this article is the premisse that if President Bush sends aid to the hurricane victims, it's only for political reasons.
Of course, we all know the criticism we'd hear if for some reason, he didn't. Luckily for Floridians, President Bush is a compassionate man who won't care if people make those claims--he'd help them in any event.
Be patient. Give them time.
I remember that when Andrew hit, Bush 41 wanted to send in federal aid immediately, but that Florida's democrat governor waited several days before making the request, and by then everyone, especially the media, was all over Bush 41 for not responding fast enough. Bush 41 should have sent in the aid immediately and made a big issue over the governor's unexcusable delays in making the requests.
I'd bet we will hear Kerry inferring the Bush brothers could have saved more lives with more effective evacuation, etc. I am certain a politician will try to benefit from this disaster and I am equally certain it will be Kerry.
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