Former Bush Aides Say Katrina was Tipping Point for President

In interviews with Vanity Fair magazine, former top advisers to President Bush point to Hurricane Katrina as the point at which Bush lost whatever political credibility he had once held. For many anti-Bush Americans, the ship had sailed long before Hurricane Katrina, but for the rest of the country, that incident seemed to magnify the fact that Bush was far removed from the workings of government that matter most to the American people.

And this is not to say that this is out of the ordinary for presidents prior to George W. Bush. It was just unfortunate for his administration - and for anyone affected by the hurricane - that FEMA and other government agencies completely misread the potential damage and fallout that Katrina would create. As that debacle unfolded - and President Bush openly praised those that had failed so miserably - it became clear that he wasn't aware of the realities of the situation on the ground. As those details became clear to the American public, Bush looked misinformed at best, and simply misguided in general.

In the President's defense, it's difficult to imagine what course of action would have been deemed appropriate to most Americans, especially given the general anxiety that was already gripping the nation at that point. Natural disasters of that magnitude can't be "solved" by the government - or anyone else for that matter. But there is no doubt that Bush lost the trust of the public as a result of Katrina. The political ramifications of the missteps of Katrina may have ultimately doomed John McCain, at least indirectly. When McCain declared the U.S. economy fundamentally sound as the financial markets were crumbling, he too lost the trust of the American people. Once trust is lost, the game is over.