WASHINGTON (AP) - Democrats, divided over President Bush's handling of Iraq, are coming down hard on his administration's response to Hurricane Katrina. Some of the harshest words are coming from 2008 presidential hopefuls—from Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's ridicule of relief coordinator Michael Brown to suggestions by former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards that the hurricane's aftermath underscores the "two Americas" theme of his presidential campaign last year.
"It's piling on time," said Rutgers University political scientist Ross Baker.
Democrats, armed with talking points and in close consultation, went into full battle mode Wednesday on the Republican administration's handling of the crisis.
Clinton called for an independent commission to study the response and made the rounds of four network morning television shows on Wednesday.
Of Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Clinton told CBS: "I would never have appointed such a person. I would imagine, I don't think that anybody would. You would appoint somebody who has experience."
Congress' top two Democrats led the charge. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada pressed for a wide-ranging investigation that would explore questions such as "How much time did the president spend dealing with this emerging crisis while he was on vacation?"
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., renewed her call for Brown's dismissal and declared: "There were two disasters last week: first, the natural disaster, and second, the man-made disaster, the disaster made by mistakes made by FEMA."
She told reporters she had urged Bush in person at the White House on Tuesday to fire Brown.
"Why would I do that?" Pelosi quoted the president as saying.
As a party, Democrats had spoken with different voices on Iraq. Some of them—including Clinton, Edwards and 2004 Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts—had voted to support the Iraq war resolution in October 2002.
And many Democrats worded their criticism of Bush's handling of Iraq carefully so as not to appear to undermine U.S. troops serving there or to encourage the insurgency in any way.
Also, Democrats were reluctant to criticize the president as the nation rallied behind him after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
Such caution, however, is not a factor in the Democratic open season on Bush's handling of the hurricane.
"It is different when you face a foreign enemy on the one hand versus a domestic failure on the other," said Democratic consultant Mark Mellman.
"Democrats see a real problem with the way this administration has handled Katrina, and see real needs that have to be addressed. Everybody is trying to do the best they can to help these victims," Mellman said.
The nation is divided on Bush's hurricane performance largely along political lines.
More than two-thirds of Republicans said Bush is doing a great or good job in responding to the hurricane and flooding, according to a CNN- USA Today-Gallup poll out Wednesday. About two-thirds of Democrats say he is doing a bad or terrible job.
Republicans have accused Democrats of seeking political advantage in criticizing the administration's response.
"During times like these, there is no room for politics and partisanship," Republican party chief Ken Mehlman wrote to supporters in seeking contributions for hurricane victims.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan on Wednesday defended the president's engagement and the job being done by federal officials. "We are focused on bringing everybody together to help the people in the region. And the president continues to act to make sure that we're addressing the ongoing problems," he said.
McClellan took issue with what he called "personal attacks" by Democrats, particularly Reid's implying that the president's Texas vacation may have hindered disaster response.
Since cutting his vacation short by two days last week to return to Washington, the president has been heavily involved with relief efforts. He has presided over daily meetings, visited stricken Gulf Coast areas twice and was expected to return soon. He has sent Cabinet members there and was sending Vice President Dick Cheney there Thursday.
On Wednesday, the White House announced Bush is asking lawmakers to approve another $51.8 billion to cover the costs of federal recovery efforts—on top of $10.5 billion already approved.
Democrats suggest they have been given ammunition for their criticism by seemingly insensitive remarks of some Republicans.
These include House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., questioning whether rebuilding New Orleans was worth the cost, comments by Barbara Bush, the president's mother, that "underprivileged" people would be better off in the Houston Astrodome, and a suggestion by Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., that people who don't heed future evacuation warnings may need to be penalized.
Santorum later said he would exempt people who lack cars or other resources.
