TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2006
NATION
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Evan Vucci/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
President Bush gestures during remarks at the Republican Governors Association reception Monday in Washington
Bush's gaffes worry GOP
BY ROBERT TANNER THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Republican governors are openly worrying that the Bush administration's latest stumbles — from the natural disaster of Hurricane Katrina to those of its own making on prescription drugs and ports security — are taking an election-year toll on the party back home.
The GOP governors reluctantly acknowledge that the series of gafes threatens to undermine public confidence in President Bush's ability to provide security, which has long been his greatest strength among voters.
"You've got solid conservatives coming up speaking like they haven't before, it's likely that something's going on at the grass roots," said Republican Mark Sanford of South Carolina. "Whether it's temporary or not remains to be seen."
The unease was clear in interviews with more than a dozen governors over the weekend, including nearly half of the Republicans attending the winter meeting of the National Governors Association. The annual conference was taking place in a capital enthralled by the political firestorm over government plans to approve takeover of operations at some terminals at six U.S. ports by a company owned by the United Arab Emirates government.
Despite the discomfort, however, Republican governors gave the president a rock-star welcome as the headliner at a gritty Monday night reception that added $9.6 million to GOP campaign coffers for fall races. "I thank you
for your steadfast support," Bush told his statehouse colleagues.
The GOP governors reluctantly acknowledge that the series of gaffes threatens to undermine public confidence in President Bush's ability to provide security, which has long been his greatest strength among voters.
Democrats see opportunity, and even those
in conservative states say the administration's missteps will have a ripple effect politically at home. "I do think there's a considerable degree of skepticism about what's been happening at the federal level," said Democrat Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas. "If you didn't pick it up on Katrina, you did when you tried to help your parents" get drugs through
the new Medicare program.
But it wasn't Bush's political opponents alone who saw weaknesses. So did his allies — listing the days of chaos in New Orleans after the hurricane, the nationwide confusion over the drug prescription program that forced many states to step in to help seniors get medications, and the ports security debacle that has drawn criticism from leading Republicans in Congress and the states.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN SA
"I don't think he was well served on the port issue by the bureaucracy."
said Republican Dirk Kempthorne of Idaho, who is leading a united front of governors pushing back on potential reductions to National Guard forces. "He's at the forefront on national security. When you combine this flap on the ports, and these potential cuts on the military, you need to make sure that issue doesn't slip away. It's one of his strengths."
HURRICANE KATRINA
Fat Tuesday floats uplift New Orleans
BY CAIN BURDEAU THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW ORLEANS — Tourists and locals stood side-by-side — in some spots 6 to 8 feet deep — as two of the Carnival season's biggest and glitziest parades rolled through a city struggling to reclaim some of its famous fun.
"It's very special," said Barbara Sykes, who flew in from Irving, Texas, where she's been living since Hurricane Katrina. "It's part of my heart, my blood."
The prelude to Mardi Gras — or Fat Tuesday — brought party-hungry crowds to New Orleans' traditional parade route Sunday, nearly six months after Katrina flooded 80 percent of the city and dispersed more than two-thirds of the population.
Mardi Gras "is just a symbol of the fact that New Orleans is going to come back," said Stephanie Hall, 28, a city resident. "New Orleans has always done what it wants to do and it's gonna come back whether the country wants it to or not."
A threat of thunderstorms Saturday prompted a one day delay of the Krewe of Endymion's parade, which followed the Krewe of Bacchus through the Uptown neighborhood on Sunday night. Three smaller parades were held in the afternoon.
Lori Caswell, 34, of Chesapeake, Va., said this is her first time participating in the festivities and she was surprised by the number of people involved. "It's a blast," she yelled, above the screams of children seeking
beads. "It's like no other fun I've ever had."
Caswell's friend, Vette Hairston, said she was glad the parades drew so many people back to her hometown because it's a sign that people are putting money back into the economy.
"It's a sign there's life here," she said. "It's a rebirth."
The Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club, the predominantly black organization that puts on one of Fat Tuesday's most beloved parades, was scheduled Monday to hold its annual "Lundi Gras" party — the start of the ceremonial arrival of make-believe monarchs Rex and the king of Zulu by boat on the Mississippi River.
While some decried the city's plan to hold Mardi Gras celebrations while tens of thousands of residents were displaced, Ebony Jenkins, who lost her home, car and possessions in the flood, was in a festive mood nonetheless.
"My take on it is: Let it roll," she said as she waited for floats and masked riders to fill the street and shed a rain of doubloons and beads on the throngs.
Celebrities in town for the long weekend included musician Harry Connick Jr., actors Dan Akry踢, Michael Keaton and Jim Belushi, and CNN's Anderson Cooper, who rode on a float.
Nearby, Mark Krasnoff and Monica Verdin sold boudin — a type of sausage mixed with rice, onions and peppers — to parade-goers.
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is accepting applications for the following graduating senior awards:
The Agnes Wright Strickland Award
The Class of 1913 Award
*The Rusty Leffel Concerned Student Award
*The Leffel Award is not limited to graduating seniors
The Donald K. Alderson Memorial Award
The Alexis F. Dillard Student Involvement Award
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Application forms are online at: http://www.vpss.ku.edu/awards
Applications must be received by Friday, March 3, 2006, at 5:00 p.m.
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