Ray Nagin on the Campaign Trail

Ragin' at Nagin
Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans is campaigning for re-election--in Houston, the Houston Chronicle reports:

Nagin on Saturday asked black community leaders here in Houston to help evacuees vote absentee or in person in the city's April 22 primary election.

In a meeting organized by local chapters of the NAACP, Nagin received enthusiastic support from local leaders, but also some sharp rebukes from some evacuees. . . .

At the NAACP-organized gathering, evacuee Eugene Jefferson, 39, accused Nagin of not having had a legitimate plan in place for transporting those who were poor and relying on public transit.

"You waited until it was too late. The mandatory evacuation was too late and there were people who drowned," said an emotional and tearful Jefferson.

"Now you want us to vote for you?"

The mayor argued that he is qualified because of the color of his skin:

Nagin noted that 23 candidates entered the mayoral fray before the registration deadline last week.

"Very few of them look like us," he told the almost totally black crowd of about 200 persons who attended the meeting at the NAACP Family & Technology Center on Fannin.

From Opinion Journal