I know what I would say about it. And I think you may misunderstand me. I'm not defending Bush or criticizing Clinton or doing the opposite. I wanted to know exactly what you were saying, as it could be a variety of things. And if you are referring to a Vonnegut book, I can't seem to get which one you are referencing at the moment. Alas....
If you are saying that Clinton didn't go because he didn't want to seem to be exploiting the situations for political expediency, then that seems like a reasonable hypothesis. But the climate today is even more PC and whiplash sensitive than it was in Clinton's day (witness the Imus fiasco), and Bush got a sh-- ton of criticism for not bringing his Presidential self down to New Orleans soon enough after Katrina, and couple that with the fact that most people think he is a pretty inept in general, he is naturally going to respond hella quickly to a situation such as this. As would any president in today's hypertense and sensitive political climate.