Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans has been a hero to some for his blistering tirade directed at state and FEMA authorities via WWL radio in the midst of the city's flooding.
He has also been the target of attacks, primarily over the evacuation effort put forth by the city which has been described (primarily by Bush defenders) as not as robust as it should have been.
There have also been questions about Nagin's true leanings, politically. He donated to Bush in 2000 and he switched parties (from Republican to Democrat) to run for mayor. It is also no secret that he has had his differences with Democratic Governor Kathleen Blanco.
Yesterday, ajc888 posted this diary, posing the question: Mayor Nagin a life long Republican and Bush supporter?
Why is this issue relevant?
(more)
Despite the fact that Nagin has been used as a convenient whipping boy by right wing politicians and pundits over the past week, my suspicions from having listened to him in recent days (including in interviews with Oprah Winfrey and via WWL-TV's live stream news) is that he would lay off Bush while going after Blanco. Sure, he would still throw the ocassional zinger at Brown and FEMA (how could he not?), but Bush would be spared his wrath.
In fact, I predicted as much yesterday in sjc's diary:
The point is... (none / 0)
Nagin is not a Democrat.
He'll help Rove do his dirty work by attacking Blanco.
Watch Nagin on Meet the Press tomorrow morning. I will wager that he will primarily attack Blanco while only tangentially taking on Bush and FEMA.
And what did Nagin do on Meet the Press?
One guess...
MR. RUSSERT: How would you grade the president's performance thus far, A through F?
MAYOR NAGIN: How would I rate it?
MR. RUSSERT: Yes.
MAYOR NAGIN: Oh, I don't want to get into that, Tim. I mean, I will tell you this: I think the president, for some reason, probably did not understand the full magnitude of this catastrophe on the front end. I think he was probably getting advice from some of his key advisers or some low-level folk that had been on the ground that this was serious, but not as serious as it ended up being. My interactions with the president is, anytime I talked with him and gave him what the real deal was and gave him the truth, he acted and he made things happen.
MR. RUSSERT: How about the governor?
MAYOR NAGIN: Well, you know, I don't know about that one. We fought and held that city together with only 200 state National Guard. That was it. We did not get a lot of other support for three or four days of pure hell on Earth. There were resources that were sitting in other parishes. I just don't know. I mean, and then when a group did come down to review what was happening in New Orleans, it was a big media event. It was followed with cameras and with AP reporters, a little helicopter flyover, and then they had a press conference and it was gone. So I don't have much else to say about that.
MR. RUSSERT: It sounds like you don't think the governor has done a very good job.
MAYOR NAGIN: I think there was an incredible breakdown of coordination, of resources, and decisions were made to move resources and to not move resources that just don't make sense to me. And then there was this incredible dance between the governor and the president about who had final authority, whether this was going to be federalized, who was going to be in charge at the end of the day, and I just don't appreciate that kind of stuff when people were dying in my city.
So Nagin "doesn't want to get into that" when asked about Bush and even adds the unneeded and disproven disclaimer, "he acted and he made things happen." (Oh, really, Ray? Maybe you should read Newsweek.)
But when asked about Blanco, he responds, "I don't know about that one."
Nagin is carrying water for Rove and Bush. Watch him. He will do everything he can to walk the tightrope between criticizing FEMA and providing distance for Bush. At the same time, he will undercut Blanco at every turn -- aligning himself perfectly with Rove's strategy to date of isolating FEMA from Bush and pushing the blame down to state and city officials.
I will wager that Nagin has been promised a "reward" of some sort from the Bush squad for taking his lumps and pounding on Blanco. I don't know what that reward might be, but Nagin should be watched like a hawk.
There's a fox in the henhouse.