John McCain and Sarah Palin meet with hurricane officials
He details the visit to Jackson, Miss., at a rally in O'Fallon, Mo., a conservative community west of St. Louis. 'I think for John to want to find out what's going on is fine,' Barack Obama says.
O'FALLON, MO. — At what aides called his largest campaign rally ever, presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain recounted a visit he made earlier Sunday to a Hurricane Gustav emergency operations center to highlight his concern for affected communities and to showcase his new running mate, Sarah Palin.
McCain and Palin had flown to Jackson, Miss., early Sunday for an hourlong briefing on preparations for the expected landfall of the monster storm. After the briefing, McCain spoke via video link from St. Louis to delegates and the media gathering in St. Paul, Minn., for the Republican National Convention. "We are facing a great national challenge and the possibility of a great natural disaster," said McCain, who appeared solemn.
McCain praised the coordination he had witnessed, although he worried aloud whether officials had secured enough communications equipment to link emergency personnel. "I have every expectation that we will not see mistakes of Katrina repeated," he said.
Later, McCain detailed his visit to the emergency center at the huge rally in this bedrock conservative community west of St. Louis. McCain has often criticized as "disgraceful" the Bush administration's response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. He also has sought to refute Democratic Party assertions that he represents "more of the same" Bush policies.
McCain's swift, highly visible response to the hurricane, including curtailing the Republican convention proceedings, seemed partially an attempt to as a strong potential commander in chief, even if he has no role in organizing or supervising emergency operations on the Gulf Coast.
His rival, Democratic nominee Barack Obama, said his campaign planned engage its huge e-mail list of supporters to find volunteers and donors once the storm's impact was clear and authorities determined what help would be needed.
"We can activate an e-mail list of a couple million people who want to give back," Obama said after attending church Sunday morning in Lima, Ohio. "I think we can get tons of volunteers to travel down there if it becomes necessary."
Obama declined to criticize McCain's trip. The storm "raises bipartisan concerns and I think for John to want to find out what's going on is fine," he said.
