White House wonders: What's Carville's problem?

“James has always been a very passionate person, and this is obviously a very emotional issue for him,” said David Axelrod, a White House senior adviser. “What I haven’t heard is exactly what he thinks we should do that we aren’t doing. We’re just looking for constructive ideas, and we’re not turning any away.”

White House officials said Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen called Carville last week to discuss the government response but Carville had not called him back.

“No one doubts James’s motivations here — he is a resident of a great city that is at terrible risk right now,” one senior White House official said. “We just wish he would let us help him get his facts right.”