Put the Best Idiot Right Beside You

I just had an epiphany. Now that the blame game is in full swing in the wake of Katrina, my theory about government and voting seems to be somewhat validated. I am a firm believer in everyone voting; I think it is an important right that must be exercised. However, I don't think that the most important elections are necessarily the big ones such as Presidential or the United State Congress. The most important elections are the local ones, from the Governor on down. These are the officials that are going to have the most effect on your life during the good times and, as Katrina as shown, during tragedy. Woe to you if you are relying on the federal government to do anything on your behalf, because it ain't gonna happen folks. The federal government is so big and mired in red tape that it really can't be counted on to do anything effectively, let alone deal with the worst natural disaster in our history.
The locals that have been put in place are going make or break the outcome of an area in dealing with anything, from getting the potholes fixed to tragedies such as those witnessed in the last weeks. If something catastrophic happens in your little corner of the world, you better hope that the local politicians have the leadership skills to deal with it. Rudy Giuliani had those qualities in dealing with 9/11 and it was because of those qualities that New York dealt with the unspeakable better than anyone would have expected. To be fair, local government doesn't have the resources that the federal government has; but this doesn't mean that the Feds carry more blame because they had more resources at their disposal. It is my contention that if the local officials are good leaders, not great, just good, tragedy and other issues can be dealt with effectively. Mayors, governors and even state legislators should know their area and people better than anybody in Washington and it is because of that knowledge they are in a better position to help than anyone else. Rest assured that when the dust settles, the President will shoulder most of the blame and he should take SOME of it, but it is because of the decisions of the Mayor and Governor that things played out the way the did. The governor took 24 hours to decide whether or not she would allow the National Guard troops to be under Federal control, thereby delaying their deployment. The Mayor knew that most of the people left in town were those who had limited resources and would need the most help in getting out, yet thousands of New Orleans school buses didn't even get their engines warmed up and help wasn't asked for until too late.
A lot of people don't vote because they think it doesn't matter, and I will concede that whoever is President might not, but it does matter on the local level, just ask the citizens of Louisiana, New Orleans and Mississippi.