All eyes were on the Gulf Coast yesterday hoping and praying for Hurricane Gustav to lose steam, and thankfully, particularly for the citizens of New Orleans, it did. And politicians of all stripes were smart enough to take a break from campaigning in light of the potential catastrophic repeat of Katrina. Midday I received the email I knew from news reports was coming from the Obama campaign. In essence it said, "Let's all be Americans today and support the people of the Gulf." Fine, this is part of the fabric of the American culture to pitch in and provide dollars and time to causes, particularly when natural disasters strike. What did surprise me was the cause of choice: The Red Cross?

Really, The Red Cross? The organization that is cited again and again by the federal government for mismanagement and is currently a financial mess (see here)? The group that has had more CEOs than the Redskins have had coaches in this new century (see here). Supporting the Red Cross is like supporting General Motors - they're both large, unwieldy bureaucracies that are way past their prime and need to get their acts together and stop depending on the Feds to do it for them.

For a campaign that prides itself on being hip and savvy, this was a terrible choice. Why not the great organizations that have done a heroic job since Katrina such as the Foundation for the Mid South which has done a heroic job of raising and dispersing money for direct support of Katrina victims? An even bolder choice would have been the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Fund that provides funds for direct services but also advocates for more government support for housing and disaster relief for low-income residents.

Hurricane Gustav | Obama | Red Cross
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