Nagin Bats .500 Today

Douglas Brinkley, historian and New Orleans resident, is greasing the skids for his new book on Hurricane Katrina -- and his locomotive is running over Mayor Ray Nagin. In excerpts appearing in Vanity Fair magazine, Brinkley writes:

... Brinkley describes Nagin as spending most of the week after the storm holed up on the 27th floor of the Hyatt Hotel, looking down on the misery of the Superdome.

With all power out, visitors had to climb the stairs if they wanted to talk with him. Brinkley also describes the mayor scurrying to the roof when a cop warned that rabble-rousers were leading a mob to the hotel from the Superdome.

The book contains at least two scenes in which Nagin is described as hiding in bathrooms. One came after his famously emotional call to a local radio station, when he gave voice to the city's rage by demanding federal officials "get off your asses."

Nagin broke down crying after the call and spent 20 minutes in the bathroom "rearranging knickknacks and toiletries," Brinkley recounts.

In another, Nagin boards Air Force One for a meeting with President Bush and Blanco and is offered a shower while waiting for Bush.

"Like a teenager, Nagin just wouldn't get out of the bathroom," Brinkley writes, saying the mayor wanted to shave his head for a photo op. Aides tried to hurry him, and finally a Secret Service agent kicked the door and ordered him out, Brinkley says.

Nagin dismisses the Brinkley book as biased, and he may have a good case since Nagin opponent Mitch Landrieu is the one peddling some of the negative stories.

In better news for the mayor of Chocolate City, the fourth-place finisher in his re-election bid has endorsed him. Ray Couhig, a millionaire and the only Republican among the major contenders, gained 10 percent of the April 22 primary.

Nagin carried the day because Couhig believes him to be someone "who understands business."

The reference appeared to be a signal from Couhig, the race's only Republican to gather double-digit support, to on-the-fence members of his party that they should feel more comfortable with Nagin than with Landrieu, whose family name is synonymous with Democratic politics on the local and national levels.
Nagin sought to underscore that message, saying Couhig had "a choice between two Democrats, and he chose the Democrat who was more business-oriented." He hailed Couhig's decision as "important for the healing process of the city."

Nagin was a Republican until he decided to run for mayor four years ago in a city where anyone with an "R" on the ballot is almost doomed. So Couhig's endorsement isn't much of a surprise. But he could have declined to endorse anyone. At this point, Nagin needed a win of some kind, even if it was a small one.