Make speeches and have his picture taken? Take precious time, resources and attention away from people who need help? I guess I'm not really sure what McCain thinks he can do for the victims of Gustav. Considering he has no executive authority in any of the areas that will be affected by the hurricane, I'm not sure what he hopes to accomplish by getting in the middle of this disaster.

Sen. McCain criticized Sen. Obama for trying to make a publicity stunt out of his trip to a military hospital while on a campaign trip in Germany. McCain should be wary of sending the same message about himself -- that he is willing to exploit the tragedy of others for a good photo op and positive campaign publicity.

While I am glad the senator and his party have had the good taste to keep the festivities to a minimum, and seem to be taking Gustav more seriously than they took Katrina, it shouldn't take an election year for our country's leadership to take a major hurricane seriously. And I hope McCain and the GOP realize that showing up for a picture taken in front of massive destruction is not the equivalent of taking such a disaster seriously.

Too true. This thing reeks of photo-op.

On the bright side, it does spare our country four days of revisionist history about Iraq and shameless tall tales about how the Democrats are responsible for the record trade deficits and gargantuan national debt, record-high oil prices, and the creeping recession.

Obama and Biden are too smart to exploit this tragedy for political purposes. Hopefully the majority of undecided voters are, too.