The Spokesman Made for Cable

As Michael A. Fletcher writes in The Washington Post: "A little more than two weeks after Katrina made its landfall on Aug. 29, 2005, Bush stood in historic Jackson Square and promised to rebuild this shattered city and the rest of the Gulf Coast with 'one of the largest reconstruction efforts the world has ever seen.' . . .

"However, only 45 percent of the pre-Katrina population of New Orleans has returned to the city, which, while slowly improving, remains a shadow of its former self: only 40 percent of the food establishments, 30 percent of the child care centers and 17 percent of the buses are back in business, according to a January report by the Brookings Institution."

And Bill Walsh writes for the New Orleans Times-Picayune: "Congressional Democrats blasted President Bush on Thursday for refusing during a Gulf Coast trip to let Louisiana off the hook for paying 10 percent of the mounting hurricane recovery tab."

Julie Mason blogs for the Houston Chronicle: "One thing Bush likes to do in the Gulf Coast is hand out American flags to families rebuilding their houses. Long before he shows up, Bush's advance team scouts the non-hostile property owners in a neighborhood, and later, the president drops by and gives the family a flag. The White House thinks this makes for good pictures -- and maybe it did, a month after the storm. But a year and half later, with the region still a mess and so many people displaced, it seems a little tone-deaf to be handing out flags -- politically, it does invite comparisons to what Bush isn't doing in the region."

Fundraising Watch

James Gerstenzang writes in the Los Angeles Times that the more divisive Bush becomes, the better he is at fundraising.

"Bush helped raise $10.4 million for the Republican Governors Assn. earlier this week, and he will be the star attraction at a fundraising dinner tonight in Louisville, Ky., for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and the National Republican Senatorial Committee. It is expected to bring in more than $2 million. . . .

"Bush's fundraising abilities underscore a key fact of modern political life, according to several Republican consultants and a major fundraiser: Political division is not necessarily a bad thing when it comes to breeding political loyalty, and loyalty translates into contributions."

Cheney Speaks to CPAC

Stephen Collinson writes for AFP "Vice President Dick Cheney told Democrats Thursday to stop 'posturing' on Iraq, warning it was an 'inconvenient truth' that the bloody conflict was the key front in the war on terror."

Tom Raum writes for the Associated Press: "A quick withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq could allow victorious Muslim extremists to fan out into other countries, with some militants going to Afghanistan to fight alongside a resurgent Taliban, Vice President Dick Cheney says."

From the transcript of Cheney's speech:

"If our coalition withdrew before Iraqis could defend themselves, radical factions would battle for dominance. The violence would likely spread throughout the country, and be very difficult to contain. Having tasted victory in Iraq, jihadists would look for new missions. Many would head for Afghanistan to fight alongside the Taliban. Others would set out for capitals across the Middle East, spreading more discord as they eliminate dissenters and work to undermine moderate governments. Still others would find their targets and victims in other countries, on other continents. Such chaos and mounting danger does not have to occur. It is, however, the enemy's objective.

"In these circumstances it's worth reminding ourselves that, like it or not, the enemy we face in the war on terror has made Iraq the primary front in that war. To use a popular phrase, this is an inconvenient truth. (Laughter and applause.) In bin Laden's words, and I quote, 'Success in Baghdad will be success for the United States. Failure in Iraq is the failure of the United States. Their defeat in Iraq will mean defeat in all their wars.' End quote. That makes one thing, above all, very clear: If you support the war on terror, then it only makes sense to support it where the terrorists are fighting us. (Applause.)"