Bush makes 3d visit, tours Baton Rouge

WASHINGTON -- Battling charges that the federal government did not respond well or quickly to Hurricane Katrina, President Bush yesterday made a third trip to the storm-ravaged South and promised ''a huge effort" to help hurricane victims.

But tensions continued to simmer between state and federal officials, who have been subtly suggesting the other side was responsible for the fallout from the storm.

The Bush administration has been criticized by Democrats and Republicans for failing to act quickly enough after the hurricane hit last week. Louisiana lawmakers complained that the administration has underfunded the US Army Corps of Engineers, which was working on strengthening the levees that broke, flooding New Orleans.

Even former president Bill Clinton took the administration to task. ''Our government failed those people in the beginning. There is no dispute about it," Clinton -- who is heading a private relief effort with Bush's father, former President George H. W. Bush -- told CNN yesterday.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff -- who on Sunday noted that it was the responsibility of officials in Louisiana and New Orleans to evacuate people before a storm, not the federal government -- yesterday said relations were going smoothly among the jurisdictions.

But on the ground, the strained relationship between Bush and Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco was apparent.

Blanco -- a Democrat who has rejected a White House request to allow Bush to nationalize the Louisiana National Guard to handle the crisis -- did not know the president would visit the state until early yesterday morning, aides said. (Bush had announced his trip on Saturday.) Nor was she immediately invited to tour the area with him.

Blanco canceled a trip to Houston to meet with Louisiana hurricane victims who were relocated there and met Bush at the airport, accompanying him on his visit to the city. Passing the Brownfields Baptist Church and Academy -- which had a giant hand-painted sign out front that read ''Shelter Full" -- Bush made what was described as an unscheduled stop at the Bethany World Prayer Center in Baton Rouge.

Blanco said she and the president visited a shelter together to show they had put their differences behind them.

But, the president and governor kept their distance, like an estranged political couple making an obligatory joint appearance at a benefit. Bush kissed Blanco on the cheek when they addressed the group of evacuees, but she was stinting in her praise for him.

''I know I don't need to make any other introduction other than 'Mr. President,' " Blanco said matter-of-factly, turning the floor over to Bush so he could thank emergency workers.