McCain to Tour Katrina-Damaged New Orleans Neighborhood

(CBS)

From CBS News' Dante Higgins:

On day four of his "Time for Action" tour, John McCain will visit the lower 9th ward of New Orleans and the damage and progress since Hurricane Katrina.

McCain will be accompanied by Gov. Bobby Jindal, R-La., on his visit today and will hold a town hall meeting at Xavier University, a historically black college.

New Orleans is a perfect storm of all the issues McCain says he is out to learn about on his week-long tour. It is a community largely of color and economically challenged with skyrocketing crime. The future of the region is still uncertain as progress to rebuild has not moved as fast as many have hoped.

"I'll fix FEMA, I'll fix our ability to care for people and it is a federal responsibility," McCain said on on the back of his bus earlier this week. "Never again will we have a truckload of ice end up in the state of Maine." To which McCain adviser Mark Salter then joked, "Unless there is a natural disaster there."

McCain says making FEMA an independent agency isn't the problem. He said there needed to qualified people in the job. "The former head of FEMA was not qualified," he said. "They haven't always had a terrible record."

He also told reporters he was not sure if he would rebuild the lower 9th ward as president.

"That is why we need to go back is to have a conversation about what to do -rebuild it, tear it down, you know, whatever it is," he said.

McCain said he believes federal, state, and local government partnerships are crucial to any effort and one of the reasons that he thought more progress had been made in Mississippi than in Louisiana.

Later this evening McCain will attend the 25th Annual Business Awards and Hall of Fame Banquet in Baton Rouge, LA.

[bleem3]

I''m from N.O. No one liked living in poverty, without air-cooling, with crime, with falling-down houses, with no shops near. Only bleeding-heart a-holes want to act like the blacks of N.O. liked that. Go to hell. We didn''t like it and only the loonies left there are saying we liked it.

McCain votes and vow to spend money rebuilding Iraq,but dont want to spend on rebuilding the 9th ward of New Orleans, in THIS country. whats wrong with this picture? and he wants MY vote? I dont think so.

[mattcat25]

The Republicans (like in Iraq) diverted the Federal Funds to the Private Sector to rebuild, restore, and relieve the disaster of Katrina. And, like as in Iraq our money spent has gone to contractors with little and no results. This is the root principles of Conservatism to make a buck on the other guy%u2019s bad luck, even if it has to be created.

[missntexas]

I will never vote for him because of his attitude towards New Orleans. People in the lower 9th Ward love their homes. But they''re black and probably won''t vote for him. Need I say more?

[pjt32]

I''d like to hear more details about why McCain is not sure if he would re-build. If the writer could comment further, I would appreciate that.

[lonewackodot]

In order to avoid giving people the wrong impression, it might be helpful for the reporter to find out why McCain said that. And, it would be helpful to summarize the arguments for and against rebuilding that ward.

[anfennel]

I commend McCain on potentially visiting New Orleans. Hurricane Katrina was a disastrous event and I am glad to see that someone of political stature still cares. Since Katrina, the city has not been the same. The crime rate is unprecedented and out of control. I think that McCain speaking at Xavier University is a great idea because it shows the Black community that he does care about their future. As far as FEMA goes, I hope that the organization will improve because it has let so many people down already.

[blackspirit3]

McCain wants America to see him as a compassionate, mainstream politician. So he''s going to New Orleans today for a photo-op in the 9th Ward.

But he''s still trying to shore up his right-wing base%u2014so this past Sunday, he again welcomed the support of right-wing evangelist John Hagee, who said "Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans."

[mattcat25]

I assume Johnny Mac is following through on his spiritual adviser Reverend Hagee%u2019s declaration that New Orleans was cursed by god for alleged immoral acts and the this curse will become a blessing?


...by the way, how is Bush''s "rebuild better" projet going?