New Orleans – Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Sunday that the country cannot fail New Orleans again and that as president, he would keep the city in mind every day.
“The words ‘never again’ cannot be another empty phrase,” he said in front of one of the few rebuilt houses he saw on a brief tour of the city’s Gentilly Woods section. “It cannot become another broken promise.”
Obama is the first of several presidential candidates from both major parties who are set to visit New Orleans in connection with the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina on Wednesday. President Bush also is expected to mark the occasion with a trip to the Gulf Coast.
Obama, whose day began at First Emanuel Baptist Church, said that long before Katrina, the nation had failed to lift up New Orleans, a city with persistent struggles such as poverty and poor public schools. He said that can’t happen again and that Americans have a “collective responsibility” to each other.
“Racial discord, poverty, the old divisions of black and white, rich and poor, it’s time to leave that to yesterday,” he said.
“In rebuilding, we’ve got an opportunity to do more than put up a foundation that for too long failed the people of New Orleans,” he told congregants. Some snapped photos of him at the pulpit with their cellphones.
“In rebuilding, we’ve got an opportunity to build something better, a foundation that can put up with a lot, upon which the children of New Orleans can build their dreams,” Obama said.
Progress since Katrina has been slow, mired in bureaucracy and marred by finger-pointing among federal, state and local officials.
Some small businesses are struggling, houses remain empty in vast sections of the city, and people are frustrated.
From several residents, Obama heard about poor infrastructure and the slow pace of home-rebuilding grants. He walked past empty lots overgrown with weeds rising above his head and saw Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers and signs advertising services such as mold remediation.
“I just feel like we’ve been forgotten about,” resident JoAnn Fleming Bradley told him.
The Illinois senator criticized Bush for what he said was a lack of urgency in rebuilding the city. He outlined a plan he said would help restore the region:
Providing grants for community policing in New Orleans, which has struggled with violence since Katrina.
Offering incentives such as loan-forgiveness programs to try to attract doctors and college students.
Ensuring that displaced residents who want to return have a place to stay.
Creating a national catastrophic insurance reserve, which he said would help homeowners struggling with their premiums.
At least two other leading Democratic candidates, Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Edwards, also have outlined rebuilding plans and touched on similar themes.
“Part of the problem, I’ll be honest with you, I just don’t think there is a sense of urgency in the White House, where the president is cracking the whip, day in, day out, and saying, ‘Why is it that we’re not getting this done?”‘ Obama said. “I mean, you think about the amount of attention that’s been devoted to Iraq. ‘All hands on deck.’ I don’t get that same sense that there’s a focus on getting this work done.”
Related
Edwards to lay out cancer-fight strategy Democrat John Edwards said Sunday he is offering a strategy for dealing with cancer that would bolster research funding, create support networks for people dealing with the disease and encourage lifestyle changes to help keep others from getting it.
Edwards said the battle of his wife, Elizabeth, with breast cancer has driven home the need to make combating the disease a top priority for the next president.
“It’s clear to me that this is a huge priority,” Edwards said in a telephone interview. “That has had a huge influence on my thinking.”
Edwards plans to spell out his proposals during a forum today sponsored by bicycling champion Lance Armstrong, a cancer survivor.
“I’m going to propose a national strategy for cancer survivorship,” said Edwards. “It’s a new way of thinking about cancer.”
Since Edwards and his wife announced this year that her cancer had returned and spread, he has focused his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination heavily on health issues in general, cancer specifically.
Gubernatorial endorsements sparse In early 1999, Texas Gov. George W. Bush lined up the support of a majority of GOP governors, which helped secure his status as the front-runner for the presidential nomination.
No 2008 candidate has been able to duplicate Bush’s success.
Among the Republicans, Sen. John McCain lured Govs. Jon Huntsman Jr., Utah; Tim Pawlenty, Minnesota; and Mitch Daniels, Indiana, into the fold, but those endorsements may not matter much now as McCain faces huge financial and organizational struggles.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has recruited two former colleagues: Govs. Matt Blunt, Missouri, and Don Carcieri, Rhode Island. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds on board.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Sen. Fred Thompson, Tennessee, have no gubernatorial endorsements.
On the Democratic side, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton leads the way with four governors: Eliot Spitzer, New York; Jon Corzine, New Jersey; Mike Beebe, Arkansas; and Martin O’Malley, Maryland. Sen. Barack Obama has the backing of Gov. Tim Kaine, Virginia. No other Democrats have garnered governors’ endorsements.
