NPR senior correspondent Juan Williams speaks with Madeleine Brand about the political consequences of Hurricane Katrina for President Bush. Recent polls indicate the chaotic relief effort has diminished confidence in the federal government and could hurt Bush's political clout.
MADELEINE BRAND, host: If the Padilla decision is good news for the Bush administration, the      aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is a far more mixed picture.  The      political fallout continues to be damaging for the president.  He's      trying to fix that and this Sunday will visit the Gulf Coast again.      Every Friday we turn to NPR senior correspondent and regular DAY TO DAY      contributor Juan Williams to discuss the week's major political news.</s>MADELEINE BRAND, host: Hi, Juan.</s>JUAN WILLIAMS reporting: Hello, Madeleine.</s>MADELEINE BRAND, host: Well, big news today.  FEMA Director Michael Brown essentially      relieved of his duties overseeing the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.      So this is a surprise, isn't it, for this White House, which is known for      its loyalty?</s>WILLIAMS: Well, it is, but you know what?  There was so much pressure      and so much political pressure coming from Republicans as well as      Democrats--Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader in the House, has already      said that the president--and I'm quoting here--"recognized what I've been      saying for more than a week, that the federal response to this disaster      must be managed by a capable leader."  So this is a way of pushing      Michael Brown aside without firing him, and I think that's how the      loyalty plays into it.  Brown was able to tell reporters that, really,      he's being made a scapegoat by the press and not by the president.</s>MADELEINE BRAND, host: And let's talk about the president's job approval ratings.  Where      are they right now?</s>WILLIAMS: Well, there's the Pew poll out that shows that his job      approval rating is now at the lowest it's been in his entire tenure as      president of the United States, 40 percent, Madeleine.  In fact, there's      a Zogby poll that puts it at about 41 percent, so it's in the same area.      And with regard to the hurricane, 67 percent of Americans say that this      administration, the Bush administration, has done a bad job of handling      it, responding to it, being quick about helping people who are suffering.</s>MADELEINE BRAND, host: And, Juan, what are people telling you there on Capitol Hill in      Washington maybe off the record about what the president needs to do to      boost his image?</s>WILLIAMS: Well, the foremost thing that I'm hearing--and, boy, there's a      lot of back-room chatter, especially from the Republicans, who are afraid      to take the president on directly--is that he needs to have a major      address to the nation about what has taken place and about the federal      government's lack of response, poor response--however you want to put it.      In addition, they're talking about maybe that the president should      appoint someone like a Rudy Giuliani, a Colin Powell, someone with a      tremendous amount of personal appeal and reputation, as a czar of      recovery--put someone in that position who could handle long-term relief      efforts, reconstruction, so that you would have a sense of this      administration coming to grips with a major catastrophe on the national      scene.</s>WILLIAMS: Whatever is done, though, they feel the president has a need to make up      for the flyover when he was first made aware of the extent of the damage.      Remember, at one point he said, `Brown, you're doing a great job,' with      regard to Michael Brown--that the president now needs to go back and say      that maybe he didn't understand the gravity of the situation.</s>MADELEINE BRAND, host: And he does have an ambitious domestic agenda being eclipsed at      the moment by this hurricane, but he does have this agenda.  How does his      declining popularity affect his ability to pull that off?</s>WILLIAMS: Well, you know, it starts with Iraq, Madeleine, and what you      have here is a situation where people already have declining support for      the administration's handling of the war in Iraq.  And so what you see is      that people are saying, `Well, it was the leadership that really      signified the president's ability after 9/11.'  And so the president will      talk about 9/11 and play on that leadership notion.  But in this case you      don't see the leadership, and I think that lots of people are now going      to question, again: Where's the leadership on the hurricane?  Where's the      leadership in Iraq?</s>WILLIAMS: When it comes to Social Security and the kind of social safety net in the      country, again, the hurricane and the tremendous need for disaster relief      aid makes it more doubtful that the president will be able to proceed in      any changes in Social Security.  The same thing with tax reform--how are      you going to change the tax system or even put in place greater tax      benefits for the affluent at a time when the nation's budget is being      directly strained by the need to help out those in need?</s>MADELEINE BRAND, host: And let's talk about the Democrats for a minute.  They have been      criticized in the past of not having a cohesive message.  It does seem to      have changed now in the wake of this hurricane.</s>WILLIAMS: Very much.  I think that's one of the big stories of this      week.  I don't know if it's been told outside of Washington, Madeleine.      But what you saw, of course, after 9/11 was Democrats afraid to criticize      the president or lack of response in terms of helping with disaster      relief up in New York and Virginia, the Pentagon.  But now, in the      aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, you see that the Democrats are not      worried about being called unpatriotic. Instead they are focusing on this      leadership angle, lack of leadership, lack of efficient government      response.  So you get things like John Edwards, the Democrats' vice      presidential nominee with John Kerry in 2004, saying, `This is evidence      of two Americas and that the poor, the minorities in the country are not      being tended to by this administration.'  You get Howard Dean saying      that, `This administration really didn't do anything until they      understood they had a political problem on their hands as opposed to      understanding the tremendous need to help people.'</s>MADELEINE BRAND, host: NPR senior correspondent Juan Williams joins us every Friday on      DAY TO DAY to discuss the week's major political news.</s>MADELEINE BRAND, host: And thank you, Juan.</s>WILLIAMS: You're welcome, Madeleine.