On the campaign trail, Republican candidate John McCain was in New Orleans Thursday, where he criticized the Bush administration’s handling of Hurricane Katrina. Speaking from the Lower Ninth Ward, McCain called the government’s response “terrible and disgraceful” and vowed “never again.” McCain in fact spent the first hours of Hurricane Katrina with President Bush. On August 29th, 2005, hours after Katrina struck, Bush presented McCain with a cake to honor his sixty-ninth birthday.