A McCain Solution to Which Krumm Would Cotton

Local Republican leader Bob Krumm, who once asked whether hurricane-ravaged New Orleans should be rebuilt at all, has got to be liking Senator John McCain's possible guillotine of the Lower 9th Ward:

earlier this week, when asked whether he thought the Lower 9th Ward should be rebuilt, [McCain] reportedly said: "I really don't know. That's why I am going ... We need to go back to have a conversation about what to do: rebuild it, tear it down, you know, whatever it is."

Local leaders of ACORN, a group representing low- to moderate-income families, said they were stunned by the report of McCain's comments by CBS News. Those comments also were reported on Newsweek's Web site.

The community activists said the remarks could erode political support for rebuilding work.

"People own their own homes, they've been fighting all sorts of roadblocks to get back here," said Vanessa Gueringer, chairwoman of ACORN's Lower 9th Ward chapter. "It's like a stab to my heart."

The mainstream media is trying to sex up McCain's visit to the Big Easy as a brave campaign tour through the heart of Dem strongholds.

However, NOLA points out that Katrina not only cut New Orlean's political influence in the 2007 elections, but the resulting diaspora increased the number of Republicans after the hemorrhage of displaced Democratic voters. His trip is much less bold that it could have one time been.

Maybe John McCain is just going where his base is growing through attrition of opponents, which is also perhaps why he would just as soon eradicate the Lower 9th Ward as rebuild it.