Floridians skeptical of Bush's hurricane damage tour

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. � If Hurricane Charley had struck three years ago, President Bush's tour through the wreckage of this coastal city would have been just the sort of post-disaster visit that other presidents have made to the scenes of storms, earthquakes, floods and fires.

But this is 2004, and Democrat John Kerry has a slight lead in Florida, according to the most recent poll.
Boulder News

Image: Florida Baptist Witness

"Bush brothers hand out ice, hope in devastated area of Florida"

President George W. Bush and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush rolled up their sleeves to stand side-by-side handing out bags of ice and words of hope Sept. 8 to residents of Fort Pierce. The coastal city, about 120 miles north of Miami is one of the areas hit hardest by Hurricane Frances�the huge storm which hit the east coast of Florida in the early morning Sept. 5 and traipsed across the state, creating wide-spread power outages and dumping water from east to west and then across the gulf to the Panhandle.

I imagine Bush is thanking God for these hurricanes down here. He can look Presidential, court the Florida vote, and Kerry can't come. If he did, it would look like he is exploiting a tragedy. Bush has no problems exploiting tragedies. (See: 9/11, NYC)


EDIT:

AP Photo



[edit on 8-9-2004 by curme]

That is totally unfair! Bush is human just like the rest of us I am sure he is sad and devastaded by the damage. if anyone else looked at it would not be covered by CNN the man has emotions and just not for the camera's.Bush is not exploiting tragedys he is doing his job!

Originally posted by jeeze louise
That is totally unfair! Bush is human just like the rest of us I am sure he is sad and devastaded by the damage. if anyone else looked at it would not be covered by CNN the man has emotions and just not for the camera's.Bush is not exploiting tragedys he is doing his job!

agreed.

and dont give me that BS about him exploiting 9/11. It happened under his watch he acted heroicly so why cant he showwhat he did there or spawn memories of what peopel were thinkin that day. Do you think Roosevelt didnt exploit Pearl Harbor at all in his election.

Originally posted by jeeze louise
That is totally unfair! Bush is human just like the rest of us I am sure he is sad and devastaded by the damage. if anyone else looked at it would not be covered by CNN the man has emotions and just not for the camera's.Bush is not exploiting tragedys he is doing his job!

Jeeze Louise, this is his job?


For $400 grand a year I'll tote ice. Sign me up. This presidentin' looks easy.

Rant. do you really think he has an easy Job? I think most people would crumple from the strain within days. The President has a whole lot of baggage and strain to carry not just ice!

Originally posted by jeeze louise
Rant. do you really think he has an easy Job? I think most people would crumple from the strain within days. The President has a whole lot of baggage and strain to carry not just ice!

I think he's an opportunistic tool that would fly halfway around the world to carve a turkey on camera, and had Pearl Harbor been on his watch the Republican National Convention would have been in Hawaii.

Originally posted by Quicksilver

agreed.

and dont give me that BS about him exploiting 9/11. It happened under his watch he acted heroicly so why cant he showwhat he did there or spawn memories of what peopel were thinkin that day. Do you think Roosevelt didnt exploit Pearl Harbor at all in his election.

Do I think that Roosevelt, a Democrat, during his election for his fourth term, against Dewey, a Republican, who thought that the New Deal "went to far", exploited Peral Harbor? Maybe. It's a complex issue. Nothing like a one termer like Bush. Heck, if Bush was President during Pearl Harbor, we'd attack Mexico! Oh, I forgot, to add, Truman was Roosevelt's VP.

Apples and oranges compared to today.

I think totin' ice bags is a lot harder than flapping your lips and not ever having something worth listening to come out of them like Kerry's doing. AND, since President Bush's "presidential duties" don't mandate this, he's puting in some overtime! While Kerry has had almost 2 decades of a grand long-running record of NOT earning his Senator's pay. Hell, of NOT earning anything but the cushy life he married into.

Go Bush!



[edit on 9-8-2004 by Valhall]

Rant. I am almost never speechless but I came close this time. I understand you have to be a certain type of person to even run for the Presidency, but do you think he is that much different then any other who has been in office? I think he is trying to do his job to the best of his abilility.

For as much as Bush has done for this country so far he had not only better be down there, but he had better be down there setting up sandbags with his teeth if need be. Of course, I'm sure Mr. Bush will tell everyone how this trip has worn him out, and that he needs to take some time off at his ranch in Texas (even though he has spent over half his time there anyhow). I'm not saying that he doesn't care for the people down there (since they are potential registered voters...hehehe), but he knows that if he "acts" well down there he can bring up the polls slightly. Any politician no matter how caring they are would be thinking the same thing though. With most politicians its not about "the people"...its about how "the people" can get them re-elected.

Ok, I'm done ranting

Vahall has it right, Kerry may have his wifes money and some of the media behind him but when is comes to substance, sorry but I don't see any. He is a figure in a suit that never says anything. He reminds me of the Ken doll. Plastic and useless.

I agree with you jazzerman after all bush won Florida with his brother's help, I can believe that I even followed the news on the 2000 elections and even celebrated his victory.

I am ashamed; he should be kissing the Floridians feet for making him a president.

Bush couldnt wait for the photo Op. More sleeziness.
Well, Bush, looks like you may have yet another trip down to Florida...
While you're there, stay away from voting machines