MCCAIN CALLS ADMINISTRATION RESPONSE TO KATRINA ‘DISGRACEFUL’

Senator McCain took some of his harshest shots at President Bush’s record yesterday, calling his administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 “a perfect storm” of mismanagement. “Never again, never again, will a disaster of this nature be handled in the disgraceful way it was handled,” the presumptive Republican nominee said in appearances in and around the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans. “There was unqualified people in charge, there was a total misreading of the dimensions of the disaster, there was a failure of communications.” Mr. McCain indicated that the failure extended to Mr. Bush, although he steered clear of direct criticism of the president, according to news reports. In a bid to broaden his base of support beyond traditional Republican areas, the Arizona senator this week has ventured to regions often overlooked by politicians, including New Orleans. The tour also gives him a chance to distance himself from the current administration as Democrats portray his candidacy as offering a third Bush term.

WRIGHT SPEAKS OUT, CALLS FIRESTORM OVER SERMONS ‘UNJUST’

After months of silence, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright is speaking out on the firestorm that clips of his sermons have caused for the presidential campaign of Senator Obama. In an interview with Bill Moyers, Rev. Wright called the characterization of his words by critics and the press “unjust” and “untrue.” Mr. Obama’s former pastor at the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Rev. Wright has been shown in video snippets saying “God damn America” and responding to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, by saying “America’s chickens are coming home to roost.”

“I felt it was unfair,” Rev. Wright told Mr. Moyers, “I felt it was unjust. I felt it was untrue. I felt for those who were doing that, were doing it for some very devious reasons.” He said he does not talk about politics with Mr. Obama and he characterized the Illinois senator’s denunciation of his incendiary comments as a political response. “I do what I do. He does what politicians do,” he said. “So that what happened in Philadelphia where he had to respond to the sound bytes, he responded as a politician.” Rev. Wright is also scheduled to address the National Press Club in Washington on Monday, where he will speak on the “African-American religious experience” and the role of faith in the public square, according to the press club.

JENNA BUSH UNDECIDED ABOUT MCCAIN FOR PRESIDENT

President Bush is backing Senator McCain to replace him, but his entire family may not agree. In an interview on CNN’s “Larry King Live,” the president’s daughter, Jenna Bush, said she didn’t know whom she would vote for in the fall and was open to all the contenders, presumably including the two Democrats still in the race. “I mean, who isn’t open to learning about the candidates and I’m sure that everybody’s like that,” Ms. Bush said, adding she had been too busy reading books to pay much attention to the White House race. She appeared with her mother, first lady Laura Bush, who said she was supporting Mr. McCain.

OREGON SUPERDELEGATE ENDORSES OBAMA

A superdelegate from Oregon, Rep. David Wu, is endorsing Senator Obama, citing his opposition to the Iraq war from the beginning. In a statement, Mr. Wu said he is backing Mr. Obama because he believes “that he is best suited to turn the page on this sorry episode in American history.” Mr. Wu is the third superdelegate to come out publicly for Mr. Obama since he lost the Pennsylvania primary on Tuesday, and his campaign has begun listing the number of delegates — now 291 — that he needs to secure the Democratic nomination.

OBAMA TO APPEAR ON ‘FOX NEWS SUNDAY’

This weekend, Senator Obama will make a long-awaited appearance on “Fox News Sunday.” The host of the program, Chris Wallace, has kept an “Obama Watch” clock — similar to the one used on the Fox TV show “24” — running since the senator agreed to appear on the show. It now appears the clock will stop at 765 days, 13 hours, 54 minutes, and 47 seconds.