Rove surfaces to clear path for Bush

Correspondents in Washington
September 19, 2005

"BUSH'S brain" was missing when floodwaters swamped New Orleans.

Karl Rove, the White House aide who goes by that unofficial title, was suffering from kidney stones and was admitted to hospital in the middle of the biggest crisis so far of President George W.Bush's second term.

Once his condition improved, it was Mr Rove who urged the President, against the advice of White House economists, to spend $US200billion ($260billion) to rebuild the stricken city "higher and better", as Mr Bush went on to promise. Though many Republicans are horrified by the cost, Mr Rove is determined to revive Mr Bush's dormant image as a compassionate conservative, the theme of his first presidential campaign in 2000, and will be overseeing the reconstruction effort.

Bill Kristol, editor of the neo-conservative Weekly Standard, said Mr Rove's absence had made a significant difference after the hurricane hit.

"He was out of commission for 24 to 36 hours and he's indispensable. It's a thin White House and it's not a good thing that the Government could become paralysed for a day," Mr Kristol said.

One of Mr Rove's tasks will be to find a person capable of leading a project that compares to the Depression-era public works launched by Democrat president Franklin D.Roosevelt.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin insisted the reconstruction leader must have local roots. "I don't want anyone outside of New Orleans telling us how to plan this city," he said.

In the city this weekend, displaced residents were streaming back to check their homes and belongings and, in places, to resume their old lives.

The reopening could eventually bring as many as 200,000 people back to a city whose population was about 445,000 before the storm. There are no plans to reopen the most heavily damaged areas, some of which remain under floodwaters.

Mr Nagin defended the plan to return people to the city, despite concerns about the short supply of drinking water and the heavily polluted floodwaters.

Coast Guard Vice-Admiral Thad Allen, head of the federal disaster relief effort, said Mr Nagin's idea was "extremely ambitious and extremely problematic". Tap water remained unfit for drinking and washing in most of the city and was a prime public health concern, he said.

But Mr Nagin said his plan was developed in co-operation with the federal Government and balanced safety concerns and the needs of citizens to rebuild.

Business owners were allowed back in to some sections of the city to begin the long process of cleaning up and rebuilding, part of Mr Nagin's plan to begin reviving the city by resuming a limited amount of commerce.

Mr Nagin has pledged to rebuild New Orleans from scratch.

"We are not taking any crap," he said. "If you think it's going

to be the way it was before, we have a rude awakening for you."

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who grew up in the segregated South, has become the most prominent champion of a comprehensive anti-poverty campaign in Katrina's wake.

Dr Rice said the South had a problem with "persistent poverty", but dismissed allegations that racism was to blame for Mr Bush's tardy reaction.

Mr Bush also sought to reject charges of racism by asking TDJakes, a black evangelist, to deliver the sermon of remembrance for the victims of Katrina held in Washington last week.

Some churchmen were outraged by what they regarded as a blatantly political choice of preacher.

John Podhoretz, a supportive biographer of Mr Bush, described the President's reconstruction effort as potentially "catastrophic" for him, in courting voters who would never regard Mr Bush favourably while alienating his core support.

Mr Kristol, while welcoming Mr Bush's speech, said: "I hope he hasn't talked himself into believing that his legacy will depend on this. The truth is Bush's legacy will be determined by Iraq."

The Sunday Times, AP

Link Here