In the aftermath of Katrina, here is my personal fantasy for a Democratic response.
Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Al Gore, John Kerry, John Edwards, and other Democratic notables call a press conference which is televised nationally. Not a pep rally, but a sober deliberate presentation. There is no single spokeperson, but an organized sequence of statements addressing the topic.
Reid begins - but not by laying out the minority party's recommended legislative agenda. He does not address the Republicans or the President directly at all, but sets the tone for the Democratic approach and puts it directly. But
all the speakers go on to describe how core American and Democratic values will inform and guide the relief efforts...