WASHINGTON – Louisiana’s senior senator yesterday escalated the Democrats’ rhetoric against the Bush administration’s hurricane response, accusing the White House of a “full court press” to blame state and local officials for the initial sluggish rescue effort.

The government’s emergency managers came under fire from the lone black senator, Barack Obama, a Democrat of Illinois, who said they were clueless about the inner city in New Orleans when they failed to plan for the evacuation of poor people.

The White House sought to deflect criticism ahead of President Bush’s third trip to the stricken Gulf Coast, saying blame could be assessed later.

“It’s not the time for blame. It’s the time for helping the people on the ground that have been severely impacted by Hurricane Katrina,” a White House spokesman, Ken Lisaius, said. “We’ll continue to provide aid and assistance to those who have been severely impacted.”

Senator Landrieu, a Democrat of Louisiana, said officials at all levels eventually would share blame for an inadequate response, but she cited only the administration for the finger pointing that followed the killer storm.

“While the president is saying that he wants to work together as a team, I think the White House operatives have a full court press on to blame state and local officials whether they’re Republicans or Democrats. It’s very unfortunate,” she told CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

She said Washington was obligated to support local and state officials, “particularly in times of tragedy and stress, not to pile on them, not to make their suffering worse.”

Ms. Landrieu’s office said the senator based her accusation in part on comments by the Homeland Security chief, Michael Chertoff, and by administration allies on Capitol Hill, who cited the responsibility of state and local officials in planning for and responding to disasters. She also cited several news stories about a White House campaign to deflect criticism.