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Hurricane relief puts Texas governor front and center

AUSTIN, Texas — It was easy to spot Gov. Rick Perry after Louisiana residents flowed into Texas in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. He flew around the state in shirt sleeves without a tie, drawling a reassuring welcome to unsettled newcomers.

The resulting imagery could prove to Perry's political advantage as he seeks re-election next year against a well-funded fellow Republican, state Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn. Other candidates include Democrat Chris Bell of Houston and independent Kinky Friedman of Kerrville.

"This helps him," said Chuck McDonald, former deputy press secretary to Democratic Gov. Ann Richards. "The state of Texas, both the people and the state, are doing good things."

Perry has been touring hastily converted shelters including Houston's Astrodome, where the "Today" show's Katie Couric asked him Tuesday if he hesitated before fulfilling Louisiana's request that Texas quickly take in 25,000 people.

"You know, I'm not sure I took the time to think about whether it was overwhelming or not, knowing it could have been us instead of New Orleans," Perry said.

During the tour, a female evacuee reached for Perry, saying: "I wanted to say, you all have been extremely helpful to Louisiana, and I wanted to say I'm glad to finally meet the governor of Texas, and I appreciate all you have done for us. And God bless you."

"Yes, ma'am," Perry said.

McDonald said Perry's activism might improve his standing with those Texans disappointed by Republican leaders' failures to reduce school property taxes, give teachers a pay raise and change the way public schools are funded, issues simmering for more than two years.

Julian Read, a consultant and Perry supporter who was Gov. John Connally's press secretary in the 1960s, said previous governors confronted nothing comparable to the relief efforts.

More than 200,000 evacuees are now in the state, though the number of displaced people in shelters including the Austin Convention Center has started to decline.

Read said Perry's outreach has given Texans a warm feeling.

"This is one of those times when the public is watching and absorbing on an issue that transcends politics," he said.

Recalling coverage, including seven Perry appearances on network or cable TV programs, Read saw a contrast between Texas giving orderly help and the "horrible images out of Louisiana," where residents waited anxiously for help as President Bush and the federal government appeared slow to react.

Still, there remains uncertainty on how the influx of out-of-state evacuees will play out for Texas, especially if federal aid falls short of covering all costs.

Democratic consultant Kelly Fero compared Perry to with Bill Clinton, who lost his re-election as governor in 1980 after Cuban refugees sent to Fort Chaffee, Ark., rioted. (Clinton later rebounded, eventually to eight years in the White House.)

"He has no plan beyond the next press conference," Fero said. "This is a big risk for him politically in creating a backlash from all kinds of classes of people, including his own (conservative) base.

"He can get himself on CNN, but he can't seem to solve the problems facing Texas."

Perry spokesman Robert Black said Perry has steered agencies toward easing new arrivals into permanent housing, jobs and schooling. He's been in frequent contact with federal, state and local officials, plus governors of other states. And he has turned down more than 30 requests for interviews from non-Texas media.

At the least, the hurricane diverted Perry from stumping on education and taxes.

On Aug. 30, the day after the hurricane reached land, Perry held an education news conference in Lubbock. But at 8 a.m. the next day, he fielded a telephone plea from Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco, asking Texas to provide emergency shelter to evacuees.

By 11 a.m., Perry was in Houston, saying the Astrodome would accept up to 23,000 victims.

"We are all in this together," he said. "We will continue to do what it takes, from offering assistance to offering prayers, to get through this together, as one American family."

In a dozen stops in Austin, San Antonio, Dallas and other cities, Perry credited churches and faith-based organizations, encouraging contributions to the Red Cross and the Salvation Army and occasionally mentioning the OneStar Foundation, a nonprofit established through his office.

Patrick Hansonof Campaigns for People, which calls for government ethics, said Perry's mention of the foundation runs the risk of making it a campaign vehicle, adding: "It's a gray area on the purpose of the organization."

Susan Weddington, the foundation's executive director, said it oversees the AmeriCorps program and other volunteer-oriented services under the purview of each governor.

Perry, joined in a Killeen visit by his wife, Anita, said Tuesday, "We couldn't have taken a quarter of a million people into the state were it not for the volunteers, were it not for the faith-based organizations, if it weren't for the churches, if it weren't for the Red Cross, if it weren't for so many of those volunteers."

Also this week, Perry began reminding the U.S. government — which might fall subject to congressional inquiry because of its slow response to stranded residents along the Gulf Coast — that Texas expects federal money to cover the mounting costs of relocation.

Mike Leavitt, U.S. secretary of health and human services, flew to San Antonio with Perry on Monday. After they visited evacuees, Leavitt said he has "every confidence that your generosity (in Texas) will be made whole."

At week's end, Perry's office was awaiting a state estimate on projected relocation costs.

By Wednesday, though, the governor was formally objecting to what he described as the risk of federal aid paying only for the U.S. government's usual share of Medicaid costs for displaced residents, leaving an approximately one-third state share up to Texas or enfeebled Louisiana to cover.

Perry sent a letter to Leavitt after federal officials responded to state inquiries in a conference call on the money question with silence, spokeswoman Kathy Walt said.

"I do not have to tell you how urgent it is that we receive federal direction on these matters as soon as possible," his letter states. "We have hundreds of thousands of Americans who need our help now."

As Perry made his rounds, two opponents stalled in attempts to draw attention.

Strayhorn initially yanked radio ads criticizing Perry, saying the timing was not right. Her ads returned four days later; however, her campaign spokesman did not say why.

Strayhorn and Bell each said Perry should take specific actions for hurricane reasons: Strayhorn proclaimed a need for a special legislative session to allocate more than $1 billion in surplus state money. Bell said state gas tax collections should be suspended a month to soften the impact of rising prices at the pump.

Perry, stressing expectations of federal reimbursements of relief costs, said no special session is needed. His spokesman, Black, said cutting off gas tax collections would diminish school funding.

McDonald said Perry's challengers are in a "horrible quandary. There's nothing for them to say."

W. Gardner Selby writes for the Austin American-Statesman. E-mail: wgselby@statesman.com