I think leadership is actually the real issue here.
I've been comparing the NO situation to 9/11.
In retrospect and reflection of how Rudy Giuliani appeared and behaved in the days after 9-11, I kept thinking that he was just focused on getting the job done, whatever the job was that needed to be done, to help the people of New York and the victims of the terrorist attack. He never once appeared to me to be schmoozing and trying to make himself look good.
So many politicians, Republican and Democrat alike, waste so much time on either spin, or mouthing the correct standardized responses.