ON BOARD AIR FORCE ONE, Aug 31 (Reuters) - - President
Barack Obama will visit Louisiana on Monday to meet officials in
the state dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Isaac, White
House spokesman Jay Carney said on Friday.
Obama intends to visit first responders and survey the
damage from Hurricane Isaac, and is "making sure that unmet
needs are being met," Carney said. The Federal Emergency
Management Agency has led the storm recovery efforts.
The president has steered clear of the U.S. Gulf Coast
region as emergency responders dealt with the damage. Obama held
campaign events in Colorado, Iowa, and Virginia this week that
coincided with the Republican national convention in Tampa,
Florida.
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is making a trip
to Louisiana on Friday. Romney, fresh from accepting the
Republican presidential nomination on Thursday, is scheduled to
join Louisiana's Republican governor, Bobby Jindal.
The memory of Hurricane Katrina that battered the Gulf in
2005 and led to heavy criticism of Obama's Republican
predecessor in the White House, George W. Bush, has prompted the
administration to go to great lengths to show it is on top of
the response to Isaac.
Carney said the president has not gone to visit the region
because of to logistical challenges.
"It was the assessment of the president's team working with
all the people involved in operations, as well as people on the
ground, that Monday was a good day for the president to visit,"
Carney said.
Obama made several references to Isaac in his campaign
remarks this week and said he had personally been in contact
with various federal agencies.
Isaac, the first hurricane to hit the United States this
year, is now a tropical depression.
