exquisite irony

"He looks presidential." That's all I'm hearing in the mainstream press regarding the President's handling of Sandy. First off, he is the President. Secondly, if he now looks presidential how did he look Monday, waste deep in the Libya scandal? And third, the entire reason friendly news outlets are claiming this is due to his assertion of Executive Branch power/authority. How did he flex Executive muscle? He promised to cut red tape and bureaucracy to get emergency funds rapidly released and instructed that federal formula regulations on fuel standards be waived to get any and all types of gasoline into the North East. Bare in mind the New York Times editorial is claiming, "see, see, big storms require big government." And we already know the President,s position on "big" government. Yet the whole reason he "looks presidential" is he essentially stood up and declared he'd get government out of the way in order to effectively deal with an emergency. Which is EXACTLY Mitt Romney's plan to deal with the economy!

My experience with hurricanes tells me that (politically) the handling or mishandling of natural disasters can make or break local officials. Bush's Katrina critics have successfully painted his post storm efforts as a failure, but by and large presidents are reelected (or not) based on the perception of their economic record with everything else coming in a distant second. However, I would argue mayors and governors, police chiefs and even preachers, this is when their effectiveness is judged and remembered. And there was no clearer demonstration of this then the difference between post Katrina Mississippi vs Louisiana politics. Blanco and the NO mayor (I forget his name) were crucified while Barbour solidified his state legacy. Which again underscores the irony of big government advocates during natural disasters - each state dealt with the same FEMA, yet it was the local ground game, private sector, city and state that made the difference.

The bottom line is no matter how good the PoTUS looks over the next 4 days it can not eclipse how bad he has done over the last 4 years.

By the way, did you hear Leno? "Don't ask don't tell is back. It's the president's new policy on Libya."