Bush Losing Support From His Base

Democrats and Republicans alike are calling for official investigations of one sort or another. But in the meantime, how about some reporting on the issue?

Eric Schmitt, Thom Shanker and Eric Lipton weigh in this morning in the New York Times with a partial glimpse into the White House's decision-making process.

"As New Orleans descended into chaos last week and Louisiana's governor asked for 40,000 soldiers, President Bush's senior advisers debated whether the president should speed the arrival of active-duty troops by seizing control of the hurricane relief mission from the governor," they write.

"[O]ne of the most pointed questions has been why more troops were not available more quickly to restore order and offer aid. Interviews with officials in Washington and Louisiana show that as the situation grew worse, they were wrangling with questions of federal/state authority, weighing the realities of military logistics and perhaps talking past each other in the crisis."

Here's one example of a missed opportunity: 82nd Airborne troops were evidently ready to move out from Fort Bragg, N.C., on Sunday, the day before the hurricane hit.

"The call never came, administration officials said, in part because military officials believed Guard troops would get to the stricken region faster and because administration civilians worried that there could be political fallout if federal troops were forced to shoot looters."

Not Like 9/11

Richard W. Stevenson in the New York Times compares the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the devastation of the Gulf Coast and writes that "while the first showed Mr. Bush capable of commanding the nation's attention, transcending partisanship and clearly articulating a set of goals, the second has left him groping to find his voice and set out a vision of how the government and the American people should respond."

Darlene Superville writes for the Associated Press: "The extraordinary showing of national and political unity displayed after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, is nowhere to be found in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina."

But They Can Try

Mary Dalyrmple reports for the Associated Press that the White House this morning announced that Bush will make his third trip to the Gulf Coast on Sunday -- September 11.

"Bush's trip was to follow his attendance at a church service and White House moment of silence honoring the fourth anniversary on Sunday of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. With those attacks the defining moment of Bush's presidency, the White House was seeking to evoke the national support that followed for Bush by making some links between the two. The president's Saturday radio address, for example, was to focus on both events and the government's response to them."

The Associated Press's Jennifer Loven covered Bush's speech this morning at the swearing-in for his long-time confidante, Karen Hughes, as the State Department's new undersecretary for public diplomacy.

Loven writes that Bush, "linking hurricane recovery and the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks four years ago, declared Friday that the nation was ready to 'overcome any challenge.' "