“This is not our first rodeo.”
Moody says Riley appears “at his best” after a hurricane. Moody thinks people have a reasonably favorable impression of how he’s handled this. Before Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, Riley had been planning a Labor Day barbecue at the Governor’s Mansion, where many of his supporters expected him to announce plans to seek a second term as governor. Once Katrina hit, Riley canceled the event to focus on recovery efforts and plans to help serve the barbecue Monday to evacuees at a Y-M-C-A soccer complex in Montgomery. Riley has been highly visible in recent days. He’s held a news conference at the state’s Emergency Management headquarters in Clanton to talk about relief efforts, visited hurricane victims on the coast. He’s toured old Army buildings in Anniston to see if they could be used for temporary housing, and talked with President Bush upon his arrival in Mobile. Riley has had plenty of practice dealing with hurricanes, beginning with Hurricane Ivan in September and Dennis in July. As he told reporters in Clanton, –quoting– “This is not our first rodeo.” David Lanoue, chairman of the political science department at the University of Alabama, said citizens want their leaders to be visible and appear in charge after a natural disaster. And in his view, Riley has done that.
Imagine! The folks want to see their leaders. A study in contrast.
Life | Mr. Bingley | 
September 4, 2005 5:26 pm
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Oh, guess I should have posted the bit about Alabama here.
Nah. It’s all relevant here, Cullen. Plus, it also explains why Riley hasn’t had his pic taken. He’s leaving that to Barbour and Blanco, who rate the space. I think that speaks well for him, too.