Bush went to Louisiana again today to shoot some more footage of grateful evacuees. Governor Kathleen Blanco traveled with him, although she had only first heard about the trip from reporters. Seems no one from Washington bothered to coordinate the trip with her, or even let her know it was happening until this morning.
I'm sure it's not politicizing anything. And I'm sure it's not an infantile, petty, personal snub by the administration meant to punish an outspoken critic who they're trying to deflect blame for their own failures onto.
No, it's just that no one could have anticipated the need to maintain an open channel of communication between federal and state leaders in this kind of situation. To the White House's credit, they apparently did try Blanco's secretary's office voicemail last night. Seriously.
"Bush spokesman Scott McClellan said the White House reached out to Blanco's office Sunday, but didn't hear back..." [via CNN]
