What (Mr.) Clinton Brought to New Orleans

I've finally located a complete enough report on what Hillary Clinton's designated surrogate, the former president, said in his sole pre-primary New Orleans appearance on Friday to offer a thought or two about it.

First, he appeared at Dillard, a historically black college which was severely damaged by flooding from one of the many breached levees.

Yet, according to the Times-Picayune's report, his recitation of his wife's policy prescriptions for the area were limited to (a) organizing a catastrophic insurance market and (b) financial incentives to spur reconstruction. In other words, he focused entirely on issues of recovery. What was missing? Exactly what's been missing from Sens. Edwards' and Obama's statements about New Orleans, an understanding of why the disaster occurred, and a pledge to take the necessary steps to prevent a repetition -- i.e., mandating a truly independent peer review and oversight for the Army Corps of Engineers, and full funding for a program of barrier island and coastal wetland restoration.

Second, the remarkable disparity between the Obama and Clinton crowds is attributed in the article to a disparity in the warning time people had before the appearances occurred. That seems to speak to a disparity in campaign organization.

Previously: What Obama Brought to New Orleans