For the past few days, we’ve been hearing about the flooding in the Midwest: levees at their max, evacuations of families and their pets, early estimates on damage. . . But where are our political leaders? While the candidates and the Bush administration were quick to put out a statement about Tim Russert’s death on Friday, there’s been little regarding the historic flooding.
Obama was out in Southern Illinois on Saturday, helping to fill sandbags and speaking with locals and the press.
Where is McCain this weekend? The flooding has the makings of a mini-Katrina if news reels and photos are the judge, which would make addressing this force of nature a priority.
Over at HalfricanRevolution, the blogger points out the stark differences between Obama and McCain’s response to the flooding. Not only has Obama shown up in person to lend a hand and talk to the people who live in the flood zone, but his campaign is coordinating efforts to help those affected by the flooding. The Obama campaign, not only provides a direct call to action by donating funds to help those hit by the flooding, but offers information about where to go if you can offer your time and manual labor to the natural disaster, utilizing his grassroots campaigning foundation to provide assistance where it’s needed in the country. HalfricanRevolution also points out that email has been sent to Obama supporters, who live in that region, to give them the info they need to lend a helping hand. Talk about microtargeting!
Meanwhile, on the McCain home page, the focus is on Father’s Day. Buried toward the bottom is a link to a three-line statement of support
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those impacted by the flooding throughout the Midwest. Cindy and I would like to extend our sympathies to all those who have lost loved ones, and stand ready to help those in the Midwest to recover and rebuild.”
“Ready to help”, isn’t the really the same thing as showing up. Even if McCain is unable to fill sandbags like Obama, he could at the very least be on the ground, talking to those who are going to have to rebuild their lives once the waters recede. Comparisons to Katrina will inevitably be made in the coming weeks, so McCain’s team is going to want try to replace that classic image from the day Katrina hit in 2005.
CNN reports that McCain participated in a virtual town hall on Saturday afternoon, a telephone call he likely could have made from anywhere in the country. McCain could have been on the ground in Michigan or Iowa or Wisconsin, as well that day.
Seems like it’s 3am around the clock in the central part of the US this week, so we should be taking note of who steps up.
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