CNN Contributor Cites Bush's Katrina Fiasco to Ask If GOP Is 'Worried' About Hurricane
In light of Tropical Storm Isaac threatening the Gulf coast during the Republican National Convention, The New Yorker's Ryan Lizza evoked shades of Hurricane Katrina and the Bush malaise on Monday's Starting Point.
"Does the Republican Party worry about that right now, that when you
think of hurricane and Republicans, that it's not necessarily two
things that have gone together in the past?" asked Lizza, who ignored
the fact that a Democrat, not a Republican, is in the White House, and
will be in charge if Isaac makes landfall and wreaks havoc.
[Video below. Audio here.]
"And obviously, when anyone talks about Katrina, the first thing
they remember is the crisis management of the Bush administration,
which I think was widely judged to be a failure," sounded Lizza.
The chairman of the Florida GOP, Lenny Curry, answered Lizza that "A
number of elected local, state, and federal government, failed
obviously in Katrina, they failed the people."
A transcript of the segment, which aired on August 27 on Starting Point at 8:12 a.m. EDT, is as follows:
RYAN LIZZA, The New Yorker: Not to politicize the storm, which will inevitably happen --
O'BRIEN: Well, I think storms are – certainly, the aftermath is
political, right? Reaction, responses, absolutely political. But go
ahead.
LIZZA: Well with permission to politicize –
O'BRIEN: You have my permission.
LIZZA: This convention, one of the people, the names that is not going
to be mentioned is George W. Bush. He's not here. And obviously, when
anyone talks about Katrina, the first thing they remember is the crisis
management of the Bush administration, which I think was widely judged
to be a failure. Does the Republican Party worry about that right now,
that when you think of hurricane and Republicans, that it's not
necessarily two things that have gone together in the past?
LENNY CURRY, chairman, Florida GOP: A number of elected local, state,
and federal government, failed obviously in Katrina, they failed the
people.
LIZZA: Yeah.
CURRY: But, look, the Obama administration has a record.
O'BRIEN: And they're gone, though, right? They're all – they're gone.
We're not going to hear from Governor Blanco. We're not going to hear
from Ray Nagin. They're not going to be any part of this story. So I
guess my question would be the timing might be problematic.
CURRY: It's all going to – it will all come back to the economy and spending. That is what's going to come back.
MARTIN: Real quick, look, it hurts the Republicans because of the
attention, but here's the reality. Republican governors in Alabama,
Mississippi, and Texas – they'll still have Republicans out front. The
whole issue is what's the aftermath? What's the damage? That's the real
concern. Until that happens, you really can't say what the impact will
be on the Republican Party.
O'BRIEN: And certainly -- hopefully, there will be no damage and no
aftermath to talk about and it'll be a story we can just move on from.
CURRY: And we're seeing governors -- again, Governor Scott stepped up
when it looked like the party was on and said I'm canceling my events.
-- Matt Hadro is a News Analyst at the Media Research Center
