Susan Howell Quotations | Page 2

He has to expand the electorate, and that's a big hurdle. Blacks displaced by Katrina, these people are going to be horribly difficult to reach.

There have been very few times in modern history where we have had the opportunity to rebuild a city from scratch.

They've lost a lot of power, because so many of their constituents are gone.

Certainly the message was directed at African-Americans both inside and outside New Orleans. It's a political message that he intends to be the mayor of a majority black city. But the statement that God intended New Orleans to be majority black certainly could be interpreted as inflammatory by non-black voters.

In order to get large numbers of blacks back into New Orleans would require huge amounts of money.

There was not enough money to plan for this scenario, because this may or may not have happened.

Some reforms are going to occur simply because the financial pressure is there. It'll be easier to get federal money with these reforms.

The council's role now is trying to mobilize their constituents to exert public pressure to rebuild the entire city. It's a bully pulpit role.

The legislature is going to be analyzed in Washington to see if these people are serious about spending the money wisely or not.