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Home Front: Politix
White House used Florida hurricane to steal boost election
2005-03-23
E-mails released by Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's office show the presidential election campaign was a factor in hurricane relief efforts last year. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Wednesday a consultant suggested Bush's re-election staff be brought into Florida to minimize any negative hurricane effects. Two weeks later, a Florida official said the Federal Emergency Management Agency was handing out assistance money to everyone who needed it without asking for much information of any kind.
How dare they hand out money to people whose homes were destroyed!
The e-mails were released Friday after the Sun-Sentinel threatened to file a lawsuit.
Democrats said they confirmed suspicions the federal government used the hurricanes to send money to Florida, a key state in the election campaign.
'It's not surprising to learn that (Republicans) played politics with the hurricanes that tragically affected hundreds of thousands of Floridians last year,' said Josh Earnest, spokesman for the Democratic National Committee.
A president handing out federal money during an election in a key state, why, I never heard of such a thing!
Posted by:Steve

#13  At what point can we start putting bags of flaming crap on the doorsteps of the people responsible for "reporting" like this?
Posted by: Robert Crawford   2005-03-23 8:09:19 PM  

#12  MSM and the DNC crying on each other's shoulders again - they wuz robbed of an opportunity to hurt the evil Chimpy Bushitler.
Posted by: Frank G   2005-03-23 7:24:05 PM  

#11  Regards the FL hurricane relief & FEMA, I think HC nailed it squarely. The MSM set up the atmosphere where Bush was compelled to go personally -- and take the heat, personally, if everything wasn't handled in a spiffy fashion. They had roving gangs of interviewers looking for the disgruntled and unhappy. They fully intended to smear Bush... but it just didn't pan out that way, cuz everyone (FEMA, Jeb Bush, Amer Red Cross, et al) hustled and the public gave, big-time. I'd imagine Rove would be happy to take the whole gang of MSM publishers out to lunch for the heads-up. Wankers.

HC -- Good call, IMHO.
Posted by: .com   2005-03-23 7:16:56 PM  

#10  I forget the polling data for that time, but I don't remember Bush trailing in Florda after the Democratic Convention. But what's the big deal about giving aid after a diaster? Isn't that what a President is supposed to do?
Posted by: Cyber Sarge   2005-03-23 7:06:22 PM  

#9  Back after Andrew, when the Florida governor's office failed to call the White House and ask for aid, the media were all over Bush, the elder. The media did everything it could to frame it all as a federal failure of intervention, slow bureaucracy, and inept execution. That all fell into play in Florida in the upcoming election year. Bush lost Florida and the election. Well, at least Juniors learned from the experience and changed their behavior.
Posted by: Hupising Cliting6229   2005-03-23 5:57:43 PM  

#8  Oh yeah? Clearly FDR orchestrated WWII to win re-election. I have memo's proving it, as attested by Dan Blather.


I never really believed that one party of our political system could become so filled with people who hate our country so much that even calling them traitors seems to lack the needed oomph.
Posted by: Silentbrick   2005-03-23 5:13:07 PM  

#7  Democrats , Masters of the Wind flatulence
Posted by: MacNails   2005-03-23 3:46:13 PM  

#6  hmmm... they would know, too.
Posted by: Frank G   2005-03-23 3:30:53 PM  

#5  The evening before the first hurricane hit Florida, Jeb preemptively declared a state of disaster. All the predictables predictably decried the announcement as "dirty politics."
Posted by: Seafarious   2005-03-23 3:18:35 PM  

#4  That's outrageous. Can you imagine a presidential campaign stooping so low as to be concerned about how the public might view its candidate?
Posted by: Sam   2005-03-23 3:18:11 PM  

#3  Damn you, Taraaaysa! Why didn't you get off your fat, drunken ass and start throwing truckloads of bucks around down there!
I want a new speedboat!
Posted by: John Fn Kerry   2005-03-23 3:18:09 PM  

#2  Article: Two weeks later, a Florida official said the Federal Emergency Management Agency was handing out assistance money to everyone who needed it without asking for much information of any kind.

That's also what happened after September 11, and just about any other major disaster we've encountered. If they waited until all the Federal paperwork was filed to get the money, a decade would have passed. The follow-up audit is when the fraudsters get to become guests of the state. Happened to a lot of September 11 fraudsters and will happen to the Florida fraudsters. Note that this guy never points to the ongoing entitlement fraud (year after year after year) that helps keep Democratic office-holders in power.
Posted by: Zhang Fei   2005-03-23 3:09:30 PM  

#1  In other news, a dog bit a man, the sun rose in the east, and Michael Moore finished off a bucket of wings. Film at 11:00.
Posted by: Jonathan   2005-03-23 2:54:06 PM  

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