4/17/08 Houston Chronicle: New Orleans: an intriguing backdrop pick
New Orleans: an intriguing backdrop pick
By JULIE MASON
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Julie Mason: Beltway Confidential blog
There are certainly lovelier places, and even needier cities, and regions less fraught with bad karma for President Bush, but he picked New Orleans anyway to host a summit next week with his Canadian and Mexican counterparts.
New Orleans, still not fully recovered from the 2005 hurricane, seems an unlikely choice for the North American Summit. Next to the war in Iraq, the administration’s handling of Hurricane Katrina has been the second-biggest trouble spot in Bush’s final term.
“Hurricane Katrina sort of congealed the idea of ineptitude in the second Bush term, and became representative of a series of failures,” said Cal Jillson, a political scientist at Southern Methodist University.
Since the August 2005 hurricane, Bush has made more than a dozen trips to the region, but criticism of his efforts in the recovery has persisted.
A senior administration official speaking on background said the idea to hold the summit in New Orleans came from Bush.
The president in 2007 was criticized for failing to mention the Gulf Coast in his State of the Union address. This year, he used the speech to announce the summit in New Orleans.
“New Orleans wouldn’t have been my choice,” said Bruce Buchanan, a professor of government at the University of Texas at Austin. “But you know, maybe they do see an opportunity to raise their fortunes there, in the sense that if you go to the scene of a previous misfortune and have a success, you might blur the bad memories.”
For their part, the Bush administration is sounding upbeat about New Orleans. White House counselor Ed Gillespie said the administration hopes to spur future convention business by convening the summit there.
“We felt that having it in New Orleans would demonstrate that New Orleans is on the rebound, it is coming back,” Gillespie said. “Clearly, this is a city that can welcome … conventions and events to their midst again.”
Bush’s agenda for the summit with Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is expected to focus on trade, economic issues and terrorism.
In addition, Canada is bringing an agenda that includes Afghanistan, climate change and trade. The Mexican leader is expected to focus on the border, migration issues, trade and infrastructure.
The event is drawing protest, and there is at least one shadow summit planned to highlight issues that organizers say are being ignored by the leaders, such as labor and environmental issues.
Ben Smilowitz, executive director of the Disaster Accountability Project, a watchdog group that grew out of the Katrina aftermath, said Bush’s choice of New Orleans is merely window dressing.
“We would agree that people should plan their events in areas that have been through tough times,” Smilowitz said. “At the same time, hopefully Bush will make post-Katrina recovery and preventing another bungled disaster response a centerpiece.”
He added, “It doesn’t seem like it’s a major agenda item.”