Word: blancos
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BOWING OUT Louisiana's first female Governor, once popular Southern Democrat Kathleen Blanco saw her star fall in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, when she was roundly lambasted for a plodding, tuned-out response to evacuating and assisting victims and for fumbling poststorm recovery efforts. Blanco announced that "after much thought and prayer," she had decided not to seek re-election...
After weeks of insisting that she planned to run, Louisiana's Democratic governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco announced that she would not seek reelection this fall. For Democrats, who hoped to hang onto the seat in an increasingly Red State, Blanco's announcement blew the race wide open. If the news was disheartening for her supporters and her party, it was perhaps more dismaying to her political enemies, who were clearly relishing the prospect of an all-out rout as the G.O.P. planned a run against her Katrina record...
...Soft-spoken and matronly, Blanco retained the mannerisms of the Cajun Country high school teacher she once was even as she rose through the ranks of Louisiana politics to become, in 2003, the state's first female governor. And those qualities served her well until Hurricane Katrina hit. In the storm's chaotic aftermath, when Louisianans craved strong leadership, she came across as weak and indecisive. Blanco's performance earned her the dubious title of one of TIME magazine's "worst governors"; as her approval ratings plummeted, so did the Democratic governor's prospects for a second term...
...Public opinion polls showed Blanco losing by a whopping margin in a rematch with her 2003 runoff opponent, Republican Bobby Jindal, now a U.S. representative and one of only two Republicans who have announced plans to run for the state's top job. Jindal, who tacked hard to the right to win his suburban New Orleans district seat in 2004, has the backing of the state party. Now, another candidate, state Senator and wealthy businessman Walter Boasso, has been running television ads touting his anti-establishment credentials...
More encouraging is the fact that Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco and the state legislature managed to pass mandatory building codes this year. Most states already have such codes. Florida has had a strict one in place since 2001, and structures built under it tend to be the ones left standing after a 120 m.p.h. wind rips through. We know that for every dollar spent on that kind of basic mitigation, society saves an average of $4, according to a 2005 report by the nonprofit National Institute of Building Sciences. Then there's Mississippi, which, believe it or not, still...