by Peter Brown
ST. PAUL -- No Republican in his right mind will acknowledge it, but Hurricane Gustav affords the GOP a political opportunity that could boost Sen. John McCain's odds of winning the White House.
Of course, Americans could perceive the handling of this hurricane as similarly incompetent to the Bush administration's response to Hurricane Katrina.
Certainly, that would not be good for Sen. McCain.
Republicans are well aware of this possibility, especially since all of the Gulf Coast governors- Florida's Charlie Crist; Alabama's Bob Riley; Mississippi's Haley Barbour; Louisiana's Bobby Jindal, and Texas's Rick Perry - are Republicans.
But if that turns out to the case, the political gain for the Democrats and their presidential nominee, Sen. Barack Obama, would likely be more incremental than game-changing. In any case, Sen. Obama appears to be running somewhat ahead in a political environment that favors his election. Another incompetent government response to Gustav would just re-enforce the popular view that the Republicans can't organize a one-car parade.
Peter Brown is assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. See the rest of his Political Perceptions column at the Wall Street Journal online
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