Whiplash Nagin May Have Gone Too Far This Time?

That's the gist of this Newsweek article, which claims that his most recent comments on the racial makeup of New Orleans and the 'chocolate' nature of the city may mar his reelection bid.

That's overlooking his repeated failures to lead the city during its crucial time of need, the reversals on major policy decisions that led me to apply the moniker Whiplash, and generally failing the people of New Orleans.

Newsweek is trying to make this out to be a racial mess:

Though New Orleanians have grown accustomed to Nagin's verbal gaffes, his latest may have gone too far. In a matter of minutes, the 49-year-old former cable-TV executive alienated the white voters who helped pave his path to power in 2002. He insulted his fellow African-Americans with his perceived pandering. And he invited national ridicule. Nagin apologized the following day, but the damage was done. Voters are now asking: "Does he have the capacity to lead?" says political analyst Silas Lee. The blood in the water has attracted a growing list of potential challengers. Two weeks ago, Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti—a white Democrat—was reluctant to run, says his former campaign manager, Roy Fletcher. But after Nagin's speech, Foti told him, "Don't count me out of this mayor's race yet."

What prompted Nagin's bizarre remarks? The consensus in New Orleans is that he became ensnared by the city's thorny racial politics. Earlier this month, Nagin's rebuilding commission unveiled a proposal that would bar residents of low-lying areas—who are disproportionately poor and black—from moving back home for four months. During that time, they would have to draft a plan to revive their neighborhoods or risk having their communities bulldozed. The proposal angered black leaders—never all that keen on Nagin in the first place—who see the plan as a ploy to keep their constituents from coming home. Yet if he was seeking to rally African-Americans with his remarks last week, he failed—and worse still, angered whites. (Nagin declined to comment.)

The fact is that Nagin simply has failed all the citizens of New Orleans. In fact, he's actually harmed the interests of the poorest people of New Orleans through his inaction and verbal statements. The Katrina crisis exposed his failure of leadership, not the racial fault lines. He was trying to exploit the racial makeup of the city to secure reelection, but that too has backfired. Go figure.

And for the record, chocolate is made by combining processed cocoa with milk and other products, not simply adding dark chocolate to milk (that's called chocolate milk by the by). Mo-ron.