Does a presidential visit to a disaster area help in any meaningful way?

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

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.

[Katriona]

@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...

[Ruken]

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.

[Magiver]

@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.