* Obama making first New Orleans visit since taking office * Will see some progress on ground but uneven recovery By Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Barack Obama makes his first presidential visit to New Orleans on Thursday to reassure residents of his commitment to the city's recovery four years after the Bush administration's botched response to Hurricane Katrina. Flying in for a close-up look at the rebuilding process, Obama will see signs of progress but also stark reminders of how much more remains to be done to get New Orleans, once a thriving tourist city, back in full swing. Obama's predecessor George W. Bush was widely criticized for the federal government's slow emergency response to Katrina, which hastened a slide in Bush's popularity and left a stain on his presidential legacy. Soon after taking office in January, Obama vowed to prevent a repeat of the previous administration's "failures" and to do more to help New Orleans and the rest of the battered U.S. Gulf Coast rebuild. Though Obama's team is credited with improved coordination and aid flow, some residents remain frustrated with an uneven recovery. Tourist spots like the French Quarter are rebounding while hard-hit low-income areas continue to struggle. There is also grumbling about the brevity of Obama's visit -- he will stay for less than four hours before flying to San Francisco for a Democratic fundraiser. Republican Representative Steve Scalise dismissed the presidential tour as a "drive-through daiquiri summit." White House spokesman Robert Gibbs insisted the president should not be judged on the amount of time he spends in New Orleans but on the "tangible improvements in the rebuilding and in the lives of people that stayed there." "We haven't just made promises, we've delivered," he said. The New Orleans recovery effort is one of a litany of policy challenges Bush bequeathed to Obama, whose time has been increasingly occupied by a healthcare overhaul in Congress and a strategy review for the deteriorating war in Afghanistan. SCHOOL VISIT, TOWN HALL MEETING Obama's first stop will be the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School, the only school to reopen in the Lower Ninth Ward, a poor neighborhood where many homes and buildings remain boarded up. He also plans to conduct a town hall-style meeting at the University of New Orleans. When Obama last visited New Orleans as a presidential candidate in early 2008, he pledged to an enthusiastic crowd that if elected he would restore their trust in government. His team made a priority of working to loosen up hundreds of millions of dollars in recovery funds for Louisiana and other Gulf states backlogged under the Bush administration. Even Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, a Republican seen as a potential 2012 presidential candidate, has praised the Democratic administration's approach. While some residents welcomed the presidential visit for renewed focus on their problems, others said what really mattered was action. "Obama's got a lot on his hands," said Gertrude Leblanc, whose home of 40 years was destroyed by Katrina and rebuilt with church donations. "I hope they will speed things up. A lot of people want to come back home, but they can't." Nine months into his term, Obama is mindful of the political stakes. Bush was seen as out of touch with the situation when Katrina struck in August 2005, flooding 80 percent of New Orleans, killing 1,500 people and causing more than $80 billion in damage. Bush's oft-ridiculed remark to then-disaster chief Michael Brown, "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job," came to symbolize his administration's botched response. (Additional reporting by Kathy Finn in New Orleans; editing by Mohammad Zargham)
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (L) hands a bag of relief goods to a landslide victim in La Trinidad, Benguet, in northern Philippines October 13, 2009. A National Disaster Coordinating Council ...
