On Katrina's 5th birthday, Louisianans now think Bush handled that better than Obama did the oil spill

On his first non-vacation trip since his last vacation trip, President Obama flew down to the gulf region again today.

White House aides say the Democrat, sensitive to early spill criticism that his administration was slow to react to the country's worst-ever environmental disaster, will recommit the nation to help the battered region that's taken a lot of help in recent years.

But wait. This trip is not about the oil spill that's become for Obama what Hurricane Katrina became at the time for George W. Bush, a federalized mess that many took as a sign of broader ineffectivness.

Now, however, there's an intriguing new poll out of several hundred Louisianans.

And they seem to have reached a somewhat unexpected verdict on the job performance of the successive presidents:

Public Policy Polling finds that today the most-impacted residents feel that the Republican President No. 43 displayed more leadership in his crisis than the Democratic President No. 44 has in his.

Despite all the controversy and subsequent political charges and recriminations, a clear majority (54%) now say they feel Bush handled the deadly hurricane's aftermath better than Obama did the oil spill (33%). More than 1,600 people died in one of the worst storms and subsequent flooding in U.S. history.

Bush's 21-point leadership approval spread has grown by six points during the last two months of the Obama administration.

As usual, Obama will give a speech during his New Orleans visit today. And another one Tuesday evening on Iraq.

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-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photos: Associated Press

Comments

[tank]

Well, of course, that's just a stupid thing to say since one was a natural disaster exacerbated by fraud and mismanagement in La., and ineptness on the part of the Bush administration, and required a quick gov. response, and the other was a corporate, man-made disaster exacerbated by mismanagement and fraud at BP and little oversight by the, wait for it, Bush administration. Who are they polling across the country?

[Barry Hussein]

Neither Bush or President Obozo have shown any managerial ability to deal with these emergencies. Neither one of them should get a pass on their collective incompetence. Both of them are excellent arguments for the need of a third political party in the US, that is less concerned about pleasing their elite masters pulling the puppet strings.

[Rick Kennerknecht]

I agree. I think Bush did a better job!

[Jim Smith]

Please get some facts straight. The largest disaster in our history has to be the dust bowl of the 1930's followed by the Mississippi River flood of 1927. You could call these environmental disasters if you include all the damage to the land and people's health caused by each. Include lives lost and there is no question. Some experts say that the dust bowl really was a man-made disaster due to poor farming techniques.

[chief568]

Well, well, well. I wonder how the MSM will try to spin THIS little tidbit.

Frankly, I'm AMAZED it actually made it into ANY news outlet!

[Jack]

Obama actually hesitated and lost a lot of time before something was done. He did it on purpose. The horrendous loss of jobs in the Gulf plays into his plans to destroy the economy. Hands down, Bush did what he could, working with bureaucrats in the federal and state & local (LA) governments. Government itself is the problem. Bush, at least looked like he cared about the people. And he did.

[Jackie]

On 8/29/10 at 12:16 p.m. "Jack" posted, "Obama actually hesitated and lost a lot of time before something was done. He did it on purpose. The horrendous loss of jobs in the Gulf plays into his plans to destroy the economy."

Jack, you're an idiot if you actually think any President, including Obama who you obviously hate, has "...plans to destroy the economy." As much as I could not stand Bush and his administration for the mess they made of this country, I don't believe he "planned" this economic meltdown we're in now. He did nothing to prevent it from happening under his watch, but I certainly don't believe he (or any other president in recent history would have) "planned" for this economic mess to happen. Your comments reveal to me you're probably a person who would hate Obama no matter what he did - he could cure cancer, cut your taxes, stop crime, stop global warming, catch Osama Bin Laden, usher in world peace, etc., and you would probably still find a reason to hate him.

On another note, be careful of poll numbers until you know how many were polled, demographics of those polled and exactly how the question(s) are asked before you put too much faith in results. Poll numbers can be easily skewed depending on who is polled. If they polled the families of those who died post-Katrina as a result of the Bush Administration's response, I seriously doubt any of the respondents would say Bush was a better leader.

[Art]

Bush didn't handle the Katrina . The republican haven't done anythinmg.

[GRC]

ARE YOU OUT of YOUR COLLECTIVE MINDS!!!!!

[Jimmy]

Apples and oranges. Hurricanes can be predicted - Bush knew that Katrina was coming. Massive oil spills caused by corporate greed, and exacerbated by the fact that the oil well was deeper than any other on Earth (approved under Bush's watch), cannot.

[Eve]

Who are the people that took this poll? I know friends from New Orleans whose lives are still negatively affected and none of them are of the opinion that Bush handled anything well.
Can the real people of New Orleans please stand up?

[Kennyrct]

Has IQs suddenly dropped in the US? This Gulf mess only started in April. The well is plugged and no more oil is leaking. The government from the outset jumped all over BP and the other contractors. Someone from the Administration was there in the area and briefing the public everyday. Did they want Obama to clean it up himself. These Gulf states didn't mind the unsafe practices of these BO and others until something went wrong now they are whining! Katrina was 5 years ago and it is STILL a disaster! Or is it racism? More WHITE people were affected this time and so was their money! There were probably thousands of people over the years that knew of these problems and failed to speak up or whistle-blow for fear of losing money! The people of New Orleans complained loudly about levies and the Bush administration IGNORED them. The only thing I take away from this poll how deep the hatred runs for a Black President. The hatred that's manifested in a devious double standard that hols Obama at a higher standard than Bush was held to!

[Patrick O'Neill]

Is this supposed to be a news story? This is the most unfocused, obviously biased, and poorly-written screed this newspaper has ever published.

(AM responds: Thanks for reading all the way through and taking the time to leave a comment. We appreciate it. But FYI this isn't a newspaper. You can tell, no paper. Thanks again.)

[Stephen Davis]

The only people they could've polled who could form their lips to say Bush did a better job during Katrina than President Obama has done during this Gulf spill are obviously still being affected by Katrina, because no one in their RIGHT mind could ever draw that conclusion, and to say that Bush cared...that's just as laughable as his presidency was. He cared about himself and those he could make money with...citizens be damned, especially citizens that didn't look like him. Bush was the worst thing that ever happened to America and was given eight LONG, LONG years to get us where we are, and President Obama two years to try to counteract his mess...it amazes me how people want to rush the fix, that those who voted for Bush and gave him eight years to screw up that was fine when he got in...he left it in shambles and they want it fixed yesterday, well you got what you voted for...suck it up and drive on. Give President Obama the same courtesy you afforded the fool before him and you may see that things will change back to the better for us Americans and the international community alike.