Republican Ken Blackwell says leaders are remembered for their handling of crises — and President Obama’s legacy will undoubtedly be defined by his handling of the Gulf oil spill.
Blackwell, the former secretary of state in Ohio and candidate for chairman of the Republican National Committee, said Wednesday that people remember his tenure as mayor of Cincinnati for his response on Dec. 3, 1979 to the 11 young people who died when they were trampled at the Riverfront Coliseum during a concert of The Who.
People, he said, don’t remember how many streets in the city were paved or how many new police officers were hired. “They remember how I handled that unanticipated tragedy,” he said.
Blackwell — in Washington promoting his Obama-critical book “The Blueprint” — pointed out that 11 people also died on the Deepwater Horizon explosion that caused the oil spill. He said the president appears overwhelmed at the situation.
“He has no experience running anything,” he said. “No executive experience.”