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By Charles Fenwick Posted in User Blogs — Comments (5) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Promoted from Diaries.

CNN wasted no time in analyzing the potential of political impact caused by Hurricane Charley.

Read on.Sigh.

Charley hasn't even cleared the landfall area and people are already talking about the politics of the matter.

After talking to Governor Bush, Wolf Blitzer interviewed a political analyst whose first name was Carlos (I negelected to note his last name).

He mentioned a slow reaction by the federal government in the wake of 1992.  I was living in Maine at the time, so I have no familiarity with that statement.  He also said that the claimed slow reaction hurt Bush that year.

What I do remember is how Clinton politicized the situation by being the first candidate in the damaged area and blasted President Bush for not being there.  I don't know about the residents of Homestead and Florida City, but I know if my house were damaged or destroyed by a storm, the last thing I would want is a politican tramping around.

Also, remember that Bush won Florida that year.

Somewhat oddly, the analyst pointed out that the area affected by Charley is heavily Republican. (It is one of the great strongholds for us in the state).  He proceeded to speculate that if the area were slow to recover it could affect the Presidential race (fewer Republicans voting, presumably).

Glad to see CNN has its priorities straight.  

For what it's worth, the initial damage reports I've heard have been relatively good.  Yes, the usual power outages and downed trees, but so far no major structural damage or injuries reported.  Hopefully, the trend will continue.

Governor Bush is flying to the affected area tomorrow with Insurance Commissioner Tom Gallagher.  President Bush has approved Florida's request for federal assistance in recovery efforts.  

Update [2004-8-13 18:24:9 by Charles Fenwick]: Welcome Instapundit readers!

Now that the pace of news from Charley is slowing down, I've had some time to check my memory of events from 1992.

I was incorrect in stating that Clinton was first on the ground in the damaged area. Andrew hit on August 24th and Bush toured the damaged areas on the 26th. Clinton's campaign did however, hammer Bush for a 'slow response'. My apologies, this was a bit of a rush post as I was anxious to return to following more important news from Hurrican Charley

Easily accessible contemporaneous reports are scarce. There's a column from the St Petersburg Times on the politics of Hurricane Andrew and one from (of all places) the Arab American Institute's Washington Watch.

While waiting for Hurricane Isabel, William Anderson recounted the events of 1992 on LewRockwell.com

Back to the present for a quick moment:WESH TV in Orlando had an interview with Lieutenant Governor Toni Jennings in which she said, "This is not an Andrew, we are ready (to do cleanup and recovery).

Now, Governor Bush has been rapid moving in his prepartions as he's announced that he and Insurance Comissioner Tom Gallagher will be in the Fort Myers area tomorrow. Jenning's comment as well as Jeb's actions made me think: Who was governor in 1992?

Lawton Chiles, Democrat. The journal of the Modeling and Simulation Information Analysis Center has an article entitled Rebuilding Disaster Management. On the fourth page thereof, there is this paragraph:

The hurricane struck hardest at Dade County, where it made landfall in the predawn hours of Monday, August 24, but its effects were felt in many parts of southern Florida. The number of Floridians requiring federal assistance eventually reached 310,000 (130,000 households). It took four days-an eternity in the eyes of those affected-after Andrew struck before federal forces mobilized to relieve the area. (In fact, the federal government could not act until formally requested to do so by Governor Lawton Chiles (Democrat), and the governor initially reckoned that the problem could be handled by Florida's National Guard.) As images of devastation filled the media and recrimination mounted, FEMA became the poster-child for distant Washington's incompetence. In what was widely seen as vote of no confidence, President George Bush put the Secretary of Transportation, not the head of FEMA, in charge of the Florida recovery effort.

But as Lt Governor Jennings also said in her interview, "what we are concerned about is damage to people" and from the reporting I've seen, there has been only one fatality, from an auto accident on Interstate 75.