Gustav's Silver Lining

Chris Cillizza blogged for washingtonpost.com yesterday: "The absence of the two most visible -- and controversial -- members of the Bush Administration is seen as a blessing by nearly every Republican not directly tied to the president."

David Lightman writes for McClatchy Newspapers: "Not since Lyndon Johnson stayed away from his party's 1968 Democratic convention, after being advised by party officials not to come, has an incumbent president been such a liability to his own party."

Lightman notes that White House spokeswoman Dana Perino last week previewed Bush's speech.

"Perino said, 'Do not expect this speech to define the president's legacy. This is not an opportunity to recap accomplishments of the past seven and one-half years. It will not serve as a farewell to the American people and it will certainly not attack Barack Obama.'

"Asked why not, Perino said, 'Because he's (Bush's) got class.'

"He also can read the polls. His job approval has been around 30 percent in most polls for the last 19 months."

The First Lady Speaks

Republicans were happy to hear from another Bush yesterday, however.

Libby Copeland writes in The Washington Post: "Laura Bush reprised her role as official spirits-booster Monday, taking the stage at a convention stripped of almost any pomp in an effort to convey to Republican delegates -- and the nation -- that things will be okay. . . .

"Bush blitzed the news [Monday] morning, appearing on Fox, CBS, ABC and CNN, and doing her part to smooth over possible problems -- rifts in the Republican Party, delegates disappointed by an abbreviated convention schedule, worries over Gustav. She turned questions about [McCain's vice presidential pick, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin] Palin into a not-so-subtle appeal to women voters. She side-stepped talk of McCain distancing himself from her husband, and spoke about how 'wholeheartedly' she and her husband support McCain."

The Katrina Legacy

President Bush yesterday was still trying to remove some of the tarnish from the Katrina disaster. "The coordination on this storm is a lot better than on -- than during Katrina. A lot of it had to do with the governors," he said after a briefing at an emergency operations center in Austin yesterday. "I feel good about this event."

But Katrina wasn't just about a lack of coordination, although there was that. The lackluster federal response laid bare Bush's failure to pay attention to core functions of government -- and a serious empathy problem.

Dan Eggen writes in The Washington Post: "On the day Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans three years ago, President Bush was in the midst of a working vacation at his ranch in Crawford, Tex., and the storm did little to change his schedule.