'Katrina' Victims Support
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Carter chooses filming Katrina video instead of live DNC speech
Jimmy Carter said he didn’t want to intrude on the busy Democratic convention schedule
Former President Jimmy Carter said Tuesday that it was his choice not to speak live from the podium at the opening night of the Democratic National Convention and to instead film a video about the recovery in New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina.
In an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Carter said he saw the challenge Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama had with trying to accommodate a busy podium schedule.
“Michelle spoke last night, Barack is going to speak Thursday night and the other two nights are for the Clintons,” Carter said from his suite at the Hyatt Regency hotel. “So, I didn’t want to intrude.”
He said he told Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod “to let me do whatever I could to be helpful. I didn’t need to get on the stage and make a speech.”
Carter, the former Georgia governor who was elected president in 1976, said he suggested doing the video from New Orleans.
“I spent a day last week in New Orleans, making the film, meeting with people, talking to people and asking them questions,” Carter said. “That was my choice.”
Carter said he and his wife, Rosalynn, have been to the Gulf Coast four times to build houses. On this trip, he said, he met with people he’d helped before.
“I noticed it was almost the third anniversary of Katrina hitting the Gulf Coast,” Carter said. Republican presidential candidate John McCain, Carter said, “didn’t go down there until the following March. For one visit. And then he didn’t go back again for another 12 months. Whereas Obama’s been down there more than I have.
“What I tried to do in my presentation was show the difference in the two parties in their basic attitudes toward people who are in need. That was the message I was asked to deliver and I tried to do it. And I thought the film would be the most vivid presentation, rather than making a speech and telling what I experienced.”
Former President Jimmy Carter said Tuesday that it was his choice not to speak live from the podium at the opening night of the Democratic National Convention and to instead film a video about the recovery in New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina.
In an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Carter said he saw the challenge Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama had with trying to accommodate a busy podium schedule.
“Michelle spoke last night, Barack is going to speak Thursday night and the other two nights are for the Clintons,” Carter said from his suite at the Hyatt Regency hotel. “So, I didn’t want to intrude.”
He said he told Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod “to let me do whatever I could to be helpful. I didn’t need to get on the stage and make a speech.”
Carter, the former Georgia governor who was elected president in 1976, said he suggested doing the video from New Orleans.
“I spent a day last week in New Orleans, making the film, meeting with people, talking to people and asking them questions,” Carter said. “That was my choice.”
Carter said he and his wife, Rosalynn, have been to the Gulf Coast four times to build houses. On this trip, he said, he met with people he’d helped before.
“I noticed it was almost the third anniversary of Katrina hitting the Gulf Coast,” Carter said. Republican presidential candidate John McCain, Carter said, “didn’t go down there until the following March. For one visit. And then he didn’t go back again for another 12 months. Whereas Obama’s been down there more than I have.
“What I tried to do in my presentation was show the difference in the two parties in their basic attitudes toward people who are in need. That was the message I was asked to deliver and I tried to do it. And I thought the film would be the most vivid presentation, rather than making a speech and telling what I experienced.”
Comments:
Post a Comment
Call Us For Details (952) 938-4955!
