# Does a presidential visit to a disaster area help in any meaningful way? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 31, 2011, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-presidential-visit-to-a-disaster-area-help-in-any-meaningful-way/583887 "2011-05-31T20:10:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2011, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-presidential-visit-to-a-disaster-area-help-in-any-meaningful-way/583887/21 "2011-06-04T18:57:04Z")
Logically, no. Emotionally, yes. I don’t think it does any harm; he brings his own security detail, and presumably he’s flying around the place in a chopper rather than blocking the roads that aren’t already impassable with a motorcade. ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2011, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-presidential-visit-to-a-disaster-area-help-in-any-meaningful-way/583887/22 "2011-06-04T20:54:03Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > As a Democrat, I think it was good for him to show up, even if Joplin is a GOP corner of a state that went for McCain anyway, and even if the leaders of the local Democrat organizations don’t actually like him (& from what I can tell, they don’t; lot of disgruntled Hillary fans were annoyed at him in '08). He could have written the district off as a loss, & in his shoes I might have. But the SW Mo. Democrats who do like him & voted for him probably outnumber the crabbier Clintonistas & boll weevils. And I think actually showing up at the memorial service helped connect with people in the broader area, & emotion is an important tool in politics. > > I might not have done it, but I’m not a successful politician. 😉 Their Rep. has been taking some flack for voting to strip funding for the National Weather Service right before the storm. Red that corner of the state might be, but I wonder if this could be an opportunity to flip them a bit toward the blue side. > **[Billy Long voted to slash National Weather Service Budget which provides...](http://bus-plunge.blogspot.com/2011/05/billy-long-voted-to-slash-national_25.html)** > > On February 19, 2011, The Missouri delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives voted on H.R. 1, "Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act... ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2011, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-presidential-visit-to-a-disaster-area-help-in-any-meaningful-way/583887/23 "2011-06-05T13:40:11Z")
I think this feel-good emotional woo is a huge waste of time and resources. This and similar bullshit (like the speeches and ceremonies on holidays, mem day being a recent example) makes me wonder if it would not be better to have a separate more ceremonial head of state so thAt the head of government can focus on more important matters. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2011, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-presidential-visit-to-a-disaster-area-help-in-any-meaningful-way/583887/24 "2011-06-05T15:35:13Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Rudolph Giuliani went down to The World Center immediately after the first plane hit. Bush & Pataki visted a few days later. Image the reaction if they hadn’t shown up?? > > These people are the President of the united States and the Governor/Senator/Representative of their state. Yes, they should be at the site to survey the damage and lend morale. I think 9/11 was different than a local disaster. We were attacked as a nation and there was great angst at what was going on. I do, however, think it was a bad precedent to set for local disasters whoever started it. It’s a great waste of resources and it ties up airspace. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-presidential-visit-to-a-disaster-area-help-in-any-meaningful-way/583887.md?page=1)