Five years ago, the response to Hurricane Katrina suffered from poor coordination between President Bush and the Democratic governor of Louisiana, Kathleen Blanco. The 2010 oil slick may well worsen partisan polarization and blame-shifting. Every governor of a Gulf Coast state is a Republican:
- Rick Perry of Texas
- Bobby Jindal of Louisiana
- Haley Barbour of Mississippi
- Bob Riley of Alabama
- Charles Crist of Florida
Crist, of course, is now running for the Senate as an independent. But the president and other Democrats are supporting their party's own candidate, Kendrick Meek.
