Unlike last month's photo-op where the media let him get away with his make-believe Katrina record, Maya Rodriguez with the New Orleans CBS affiliate news brought a dose of reality to McCain's town hall in Baton Rouge on Wednesday:
Rodriguez: Senator, my understanding is you have voted twice against the creation of commission to investigate the levee failures around New Orleans, and my question is: Why have you voted against that creation of that commission?
McCain: I've supported every investigation and ways of finding out what caused the tragedy. I've been here to New Orleans. I've met with people on the ground. I've met with the Governor. I'm not familiar with exactly what you said but I've been as active as anybody in efforts to restore the city. ...
Despite his claims otherwise, the reporter was correct, and McCain's record on Katrina is not at all what he would have you believe.
- McCain Voted Twice Against Establishing A Commission To Study The Response To Hurricane Katrina. [ 9/14/2005, 2/2/2006]
- McCain Opposed Granting Financial Relief To Those Affected By Hurricane Katrina. [9/15/2005]
- McCain Voted Against Five Months of Medicaid For Hurricane Katrina Victims. [11/3/2005]
- McCain Voted Against Emergency Funding Bill, Including $28 Billion for Hurricane Relief. [5/4/2006]
And as for McCain's: “I’ve been here to New Orleans. I’ve met with people on the ground,” ThinkProgress notes that "until traveling there one month ago, McCain had “made just one public tour of New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina touched down in August 2005.”"
The truth is, until Bobby Jindal won the Louisiana Governor's race in Oct. and McCain began trying to remake his Katrina image out of pixie dust and media complacency, his gulf coast record hadn't changed much since the day the hurricane made landfall.
