NEW ORLEANS — Senator Obama, a Democratic presidential candidate, said yesterday that the country cannot fail New Orleans again and that as president, he would keep the city in mind every day. “The words never again cannot be another empty phrase,” he said in front of one of the few rebuilt houses in the city’s Gentilly Woods section. “It cannot become another empty promise.”

Mr. Obama is the first of several presidential candidates set to visit New Orleans in connection with the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina on Wednesday. President Bush also is expected to mark the occasion with a trip to the Gulf Coast.

Mr. Obama, whose day began at church, said that long before Katrina, the nation had failed to lift up New Orleans, a city with persistent struggles such as poverty and poor public schools.

Progress since Katrina has been mired in bureaucracy and marred by fingerpointing among federal, state, and local officials. Some businesses are struggling, houses remain empty in sections of the city, and people are frustrated.

From several residents, Mr. Obama heard about poor infrastructure and the slow pace of home rebuilding grants. He walked past empty lots overgrown with weeds rising above his head and saw Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers and signs advertising services such as mold remediation.

The Illinois senator criticized Mr. Bush for what he said was a lack of urgency in rebuilding the city. He outlined a plan he said would help restore the region by:

• Providing grants for community policing in New Orleans, which has struggled with violence since Katrina;

• Offering incentives such as loan forgiveness programs to try to attract doctors and college students;

• Ensuring displaced residents who want to return have a place to stay;

• Creating a national catastrophic insurance reserve, which he said would help homeowners struggling with their premiums.

“Part of the problem, I’ll be honest with you, I just don’t think there is a sense of urgency in the White House, where the president is cracking the whip, day in, day out, and saying, ‘Why is it that we’re not getting this done?'”