Post-Gustav, Day 6 - What A Difference A Governor Makes.

A little editorializing, if you please:

Since Hurricane Gustav missed New Orleans last week, the national media determined it was all a non-event. No story here; move along. No matter that it was worst storm ever to hit Baton Rouge, was more damaging to Louisiana than Hurricane Andrew in 1992, and a half million of us are still without power. But in missing those stories, the national media missed the real story here, which can be summed up in three words:

Governor. Bobby. Jindal.

A week after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, what emanated from the Governor Kathleen Blanco's office was, at best, indecision, confusion, excuses, and finger-pointing. Looking there for answers and information was looking in the wrong place.

But Jindal has taken decisive control of this crisis, and seems to be the most informed person out there. He gives daily briefings about the status of the recovery, in detail, and the local joke is Jindal gives you 30 minutes of information in a 20 minute press conference.

And unlike 2005, Jindal is setting the agenda, not reacting to it. He demanded FEMA deliver on their promised deliveries, and he got them. (Well, most of them - we're talking FEMA here...) Jindal demanded the utilities give the public some target dates for restoring power. (There are still about half a million Louisiana customers without power.) And when the dates didn't meet his satisfaction, Jindal told them to tighten it up, find the forces, and put state resources in the mix to assist in clearing damage and clearing red tape.

Here in the Broadmoor area of Baton Rouge, one of the hardest hit by Gustav, the results of Jindal's efforts are clearly evident. We now have dozens of power trucks and hundreds of lineman, from all over the country, working to get us power. It was pretty cool to see three bucket trucks lined up in a row working on our feeder lines.

And to get gas stations, groceries and pharmacies open, Jindal is buying 400 generators for them to get powered up. Bobby doesn't wait on FEMA. And to make sure we had the gas (generators are always hungry...), Jindal got Bush to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for our use (Louisiana has to pay that back).

All in all, we took a beating. But knowing Jindal is at the helm is a bloody relief. I gave Jindal more than a few swipes over the pay raise issue a few months ago. And he deserved it. But his actions now shows that the earlier issue was an aberration, and not indicative of who he truly is as a leader.

So keep it up Bobby. We may be hot, sweaty, tired and always smell slightly of gasoline, but we're glad you're at the helm.

And of course - FEMA still sucks.