New Orleans Mayor Faces Tough Questions

Now his strong criticism of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other agencies has earned him more than a few enemies, said Robert Hogan, an associate professor of political science at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. "In this crisis, some of his comments have done him a huge disservice," Hogan said. "Some of his comments come across as a crackpot. To me, he's just exasperated, but he may not be viewed that way in Washington."

Nagin's counterparts in neighboring parishes have said essentially the same thing he has. Aaron Broussard, the Jefferson Parish president, told CBS News that the federal government would have to be held accountable for what happened.

"Bureaucracy has murdered people in the greater New Orleans area, and bureaucracy needs to stand trial before Congress today," Broussard said. "Take whatever idiot they have at the top, give me a better idiot. Give me a caring idiot. Give me a sensitive idiot. Just don't give me the same idiot."

Officials in hard-hit St. Bernard Parish were just as derisive of federal efforts.

But Hogan said it would be unwise for any of them, especially Nagin, to keep the fight going.

"The Bush administration has the upper hand because they have the apparatus in place to come up with fingers to point," he said. "They have surrogates. They have a huge network that can help them through talk radio and national radio. They have talking points. State and local governments in Louisiana aren't in the propaganda mode. They don't have the ability to fight back. They are in the rescue and rebuilding mode."

Nagin has shown signs that he wants to reach out. Once the Superdome and the Convention Center -- from which horrible scenes were broadcast around the world -- were cleared, Nagin thanked everyone who provided resources and complimented the Army lieutenant general who helped get the ball moving. He also has attempted to show his human side.

"You know, my heart is broken," Nagin said. "And, you know, it's, it's a tough thing, when you see a city that you love so much, and you see it so devastated and so -- almost dead, and you wonder what the future looks like. I'm basically homeless now."

Even those who approve of the mayor said that the crisis is a reminder of how dependent local officials are on the state and federal government during a crisis. New Nagin supporter Brown, who lost his home and his wife's business in the storm, said the mayor's hands were tied. If he had ordered an earlier evacuation, and enforced it, Brown said, he would have encountered another problem.

"Where are we going to send them?" Brown asked. "If you say mandatory, you got to have somewhere for people to go. He don't control nothing but New Orleans."