Has Katrina bumped Iraq as the#1 issue for the 06 elections?

If so, what will this mean in terms of the way campaigns are run and who will win them?

Lack of responsibility, accountability and credibility.

deeper (saying that those who did not evacuate should face penalties). Hopefully, his opponent(s) in PA are taking notes for next year.

Sen. Rick Santorum said in a weekend interview that people who do not heed evacuation warnings in the future may need to be penalized. But the Pennsylvania Republican yesterday clarified his remarks, saying he did not mean people who lack cars or other resources.

His remarks were sharply criticized by the campaign of Democrat Bob Casey Jr., who is seeking to unseat Santorum, the No. 3 GOP leader in the Senate. "At face value show an incredible amount of insensitivity to the Gulf Coast," said Jay Reiff, Casey's campaign manager. "What exactly does Senator Santorum mean by imposing penalties on people who often times had no transportation and no place to go?"

In a weekend interview with Pittsburgh's WTAE-TV about the victims of Hurricane Katrina, Santorum said: "I mean, you have people who don't heed those warnings and then put people at risk as a result of not heeding those warnings. There may be a need to look at tougher penalties on those who decide to ride it out and understand that there are consequences to not leaving."


http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05250/566844.stm

9/11 - Iraq - Katrina.

for two reasons:

(1) In so far as they illustrate the Bush Administration's incompetence, refusal to deal with realities instead of appearances, lack of concern for people other than the privileged few, cronyism and corruption, and abuse of anyone who tries to tell the truth or act honorably they are cumulative rather than in competition with each each other.

(2) Katrina itself has passed; there is still the aftermath, and it looks pretty gruesome, but the storm itself has gone. The war in Iraq continues, and it doesn't appear to be getting any better. It will not pass away naturally as did Katrina. It will continue to get worse until someone in authority unites decency, intelligence, and a respect for the opinions of others, ("a decent respect for the opinions of mankind") as necessary elements in dealing with the issues at hand.

I see no indication that anyone in the Bush Administration is capable of decency, intelligence, and "a decent respect for the opinions of mankind."

The general public, not us politics mavens, almost always care more about immediate issues here at home rather than international affairs.