Natural disasters are an expected test for Presidents, Governors, and other government leaders. You know you're going todeal with them, and there's no curve or a sliding scale. Natural disasters are pass-or-fail tests. In responding to Hurricane Helene, the federal government failed. That's prompted Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and national Democrats to engage in far more messages relating to Hurricane Milton.

Even the ordinarily left-leaning satire news site The Onion understood Biden and FEMA failed to respond during Helene. They published a piece with the headline," 'Damn, That's Crazy,' Announces FEMA In Statement," and the piece talked about FEMA doing nothing but commenting about how bad things were and watching social media videos. This isn't far off from the truth if you speak to anyone living in these disaster areas.

Kamala Harris realized she was getting hammered by the press and survivors of Helene. She tried turning this around by attacking Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, claiming he was dodging her calls on hurricane relief. DeSantis denied ever getting a call from Harris and, in an interview, was unsure what Harris was even doing.

As DeSantis noted, Harris has never been involved in any chain of command on disaster relief. DeSantis had calls with Biden and FEMA but never Harris. These calls came well after Helene was over and DeSantis was preparing for Milton.

Harris tried to make a show of touring damage from Hurricane Helene. She showed up over the weekend on October 5. In terms of showing up, she was literally the last person. By the time Kamala Harris showed up to tour North Carolina and offer her support, every other federal, state, and local leader had already been through the area, multiple times in some cases, to tour the damage. Then everyone turns around, and Harris tries to pretend she cares, too.

Donald Trump got attacked for making the hurricane response political, and he showed up within days of the disaster. It's not hard to think back to George W. Bush and how he was pilloried for poor federal response, and he was there far faster than Harris ever showed up.

My Democrat friends like responding with something like, "All this is optics; stop being mad over optics." But it's not optics. It is actually more than that - you can read any of the coverage of Hurricane Helene or any disaster in the past 100 years. The number one question people have when their homes, neighborhoods, and communities get swept away in a natural disaster is simple: who will help us? Where is the government?

When a governor, senator, representative, or president shows up, it answers that question. Leadership shows up to provide that moral support that people need to see in a moment of crisis. Arguably, George W. Bush's greatest moment as president was when he stood atop the rubble of the World Trade Centers and gave his bullhorn speech. He told everyone he could hear them, and people cheered.

In moments of crisis, people want and need to see the country's leadership take notice of them, empathize with them, and work with everyone in the cleanup and rebuilding effort. No one is expecting Kamala Harris to go put nails in plywood to rebuild things, but they do want her to remember them and carry their experiences with her for the rest of her life.

Donald Trump does that consistently. He did with the families of the Americans who lost their lives in Afghanistan during the withdrawal, and he's doing it here during hurricane relief efforts. Harris failed a very simple test that all politicians face, and she's lashing out at everyone but the main person: herself.

DeSantis is correct; Harris needs to look in the mirror because that's the person making everything about herself. Now the state of Florida is facing a second hurricane, which has the capacity to be stronger than Helene. Hurricane Milton has charted a historic course in the satellite era, ramping up to category five status twice and growing in scope. Forecasters expect it to weaken, but it's a monster no matter how you analyze it.

If Harris wants credit for responding to a hurricane disaster, here's how to do better: show up and donate supplies and time and listen to disaster victims. In 2012, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney understood this, and both showed up to deliver aid to Hurricane Sandy survivors. Donald Trump already understands this part of the job. He gets it because he's already done it and because he lives in Florida and gets that aspect of life.

These are the kinds of basic lessons that any experienced politician would have down pat by the time they entered national politics. Kamala Harris didn't earn her way here and has never won a vote at the national level. Her experience in the Senate was unremarkable, and her time as Attorney General is best described as picking political battles and ignoring problems.

The Presidency is the real deal. You can't hide from disasters, war, and other things. They're coming. Harris failed the first and most basic test of politics: look the part during a disaster. She's getting a second crack at it with Milton. Theoretically, she should pass the test this time. But it's also possible Biden outshines her because he understands this lesson, too. Democrats said Biden wasn't physically able to run for president and pushed him aside, but he's the only reason they're getting positive marks during a natural disaster right now. Harris can't be bothered.