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NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
POLITICS
THURSDAY AUGUST 28 2008
Sebelius denies talk of joining Cabinet
fchambers@kansan.com
DENVER — Governor Kathleen Sebelius denied claims Wednesday
that she would accept a position on Barack Obama's Cabinet if he were elected to the presidency.
KANSAN.COM
Since Obama's announcement
feelings about being passed over for the vice president position, but said she was delighted to have had the spotlight on Kansas and its achievements.
Check out "Kansan Convention Center" at www.kansan.com/blogs
Saturday that Joe Biden would be his running mate, rumors have circulated that Sebelius would likely be offered a cabinet position.
But Sebelius gave nothing away about her future plans, repeating statements she made when asked if she would be Obama's running mate.
"I love my job, and I'm not looking for a new one," she said. "Right now I am not even going there."
Francesca Chambers/KANSAN
Sebelius' second and final term as governor will end in 2010. Sebelius is unable to run for a third term by state law.
She also rejected rumors that she would run for the Sam Brownback's U.S. Senate position. Brownback (R-Kan.) recently announced he would not seek reelection.
Sebelius said her only concern was continuing to make progress in Kansas and she was not looking that far into the future.
Democratic National Convention.
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius helps pack medical supplies as part of a service project for delegates attending the Democratic Convention. Sebelius said she was glad the spotlight had been on Kansas recently because it brought attention to the state's achievements.
She denied to comment on her
Sebellus, who is co-chairwoman of the convention, participated in a discussion of the Democratic Party's health care policies Monday. Tuesday she gave the evening's first primetime speech, not allowing her the opportunity to meet with Kansas delegates until Wednesday.
"I'm sorry that I have not spent as much time with you at this convention as I would have liked," she told the delegates at breakfast.
She reminded delegates that their work was not finished vet.
"When you leave Denver I want you to be ready to roll up your sleeves and go to work," she said, pointing out that there were only 68 days until the general election on Nov. 4. "That's really not a lot of time."
After breakfast, Sebelius accompanied the delegates to the convention's first-ever Delegate Service Day. Delegates from each state were
assigned to various service projects, many which benefit Denver but also some that had international reach.
organization that collects and distributes medical supplies to countries in need.
Kansas delegates were assigned to Project C.U.R.E., a non-profit
Edited by Brenna Hawley
POLITICS
Biden says he and Obama 'share a common story'
fchambers@kansan.com
BY FRANCESCA CHAMBERS
DENVER — At first Joe Biden's demeanor was calm and controlled as he made his first speech as the official Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Wednesday night.
It seemed political commentators were wrong when they predicted he would play the role of attack dog in the Obama campaign. But slowly, Biden's voice got louder
and angrier, plateauing when he told the audience, "John McCain was wrong, and Barack Obama was right," about the war in Iraq.
"In the Senate, John sided with President Bush 95 percent of the time. Give me a break," Biden said.
Republicans and analysts wondered if Biden would make a detrimental slip of tongue, but the only mistake Biden made was what he called a Freudian one: He referred to John McCain as George Bush.
Biden even embraced his previ
ous, questionable behavior saying. "Failure at some point in everyone's life is inevitable, but giving up is unforgivable."
Biden also emphasized his compatibility with the Obama campaign, citing he and Obama's common, humble backgrounds, anti-Iraq war policies and belief in change.
"Barack Obama and I took very different journeys to this destination, but we share a common story," Biden said.
After his speech Biden was joined on the stage first by Barack Obama, who made a surprise appearance, and then by his family. The convention's band played "We are family."
Biden was officially nominated as the Vice Presidential candidate Wednesday evening when Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi suspended the convention rules and nominated Biden by acclimation instead of taking a vote.
Clinton stopped the roll call after New Mexico. At that time she had received 341.5 votes and Obama had received 1,549.5 of the 2,210 needed.
Obama was also formally nominated yesterday, when Hillary Clinton put a stop to the state delegations' roll call votes.
Clinton received six of Kansas' 37 votes.
Edited by Becka Cremer
New Orleans gets ready for hurricane Gustav
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW ORLEANS — On the eve of Hurricane Katrina's third anniversary, a nervous New Orleans watched Wednesday as another storm threatened to test everything the city has rebuilt, and officials made preliminary plans to evacuate people and pets in an attempt to avoid a Katrina-style chaos.
Forecasters warned that Gustav could grow into a dangerous Category 3 hurricane in the next several days and hit somewhere along a swath of the Gulf Coast from the Florida Panhandle to Texas — with New Orleans smack in the middle.
"I'm panicking," said Evelyn Fuselier of Chalmette, whose home was submerged in 14 feet of floodwater when Katrina hit. Fuselier said she's been back in her home one year this month, and called watching Gustav swirl toward the Gulf of Mexico indescribable. "I keep thinking, 'Did the Corps fix the leves?' Is my house going to flood again?"
Taking no chances, city officials began preliminary planning to evacuate and lock down the city in hopes of avoiding the catastrophe that followed the 2005 storm. Mayor Ray Nagin left the Democratic National Convention in Denver to return home for the preparations. Gov. Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency to lay the groundwork for federal assistance, and put 3,000 National Guard troops on standby.
Reginald Lee cuts grass around white flags at Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans Wednesday. The flags represented people who died during Hurricane Katrina.
If a Category 3 or stronger hurricane comes within 60 hours of the city, New Orleans plans to institute a mandatory evacuation order. Unlike Katrina, there will be no massive shelter at the
ASSOCIATED PRESS
It was unclear what would happen to stragglers. Jerry Sneed, the city's emergency preparedness director, said officials are ready to move about 30,000 people. Nearly 8,000 people had signed up for transportation help by late Wednesday.
At a suburban Lowe's store, employees said portable generators, gasoline cans, bottled water and batteries were selling briskly. Hotels across south Louisiana reported taking many reservations as coastal residents looked inland for possible refuge.
Superdome, a plan designed to encourage residents to leave. Instead, the state has arranged for buses and trains to take people to safety.
"Everybody learned a lesson about staying, so the highways will be twice as packed this time," Weaver said.
Steve Weaver, 82, and his wife stayed for Katrina — and were plucked off the roof of their house by a Coast Guard helicopter. This time, Weaver has no inclination to ride out the storm
Katrina struck New Orleans on Aug. 29, 2005, and its storm surge blasted through the levees that protect the city. Eighty percent of the city was flooded.
Though pockets of the New Orleans are well on the way to recovery, many residents still live in temporary trailers, and shuttered homes still bear the 'X' that was painted to help rescue teams looking for the dead.
WEATHER
Many people never returned, and the city's population, around 310,000 people, is roughly two-thirds what it was before the storm, though various estimates vary wildly.
The storm triggered flooding and landslides that killed 22 people in the Caribbean. It weakened into a tropical storm and appeared headed for Cuba, though it is likely to grow stronger in the coming days.
Since the storm, the Army Corps of Engineers has spent billions of dollars to improve the levee system, but because of two quiet hurricane seasons, the flood walls have never been tested.
Gustav formed Monday and roared ashore Tuesday as a Category 1 hurricane near the southern Haitian city of Jacmel with top winds near 90 mph, toppling palm trees and flooding the city's Victorian buildings.
Floodgates have been installed on drainage canals to stop any storm surge from entering the city, and levees have been raised and in many places strengthened with concrete. But they are not built to withstand a storm stronger than Katrina.
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