Vice President Joe Biden spent part his Tuesday visit to the oil-soaked Gulf Coast, talking to out of work fishermen on the dock of a crab processing plant in eastern New Orleans, closed because of the BP spill.
He told them, "We're going to stay with you until you're made whole. You cannot be made whole though, unless the Gulf is made whole. That's the commitment we make to you."
So, was this a carefully crafted photo op or a true picture of the Obama Administration's concern as BP's wrecked wellhead continues to spew into the Gulf of Mexico?
Political strategist Dr. Silas Lee says it might have been a little of both.
"The administration understands that if they are not visible and very diligent in communicating their agenda, that those who oppose the mission and agenda of the administration will hijack them and keep the administration on the defensive," said Lee.
This was Biden's first trip to the Gulf since the Deepwater Horizon blew up more than two months ago.
President Obama, his Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and other administration officials have been frequent visitors to the region.
Loyola political science assistant professor Sean Cain says the visits are just hollow gestures, unless there's real cooperation on the ground.
"There has to be a shared strategy," said Cain. "If there isn't, than you'll start hearing from those officials that basically him and his advisors are are just coming down here for a photo opportunity."
Some local leaders are growing weary of the talking points.
They say behind the scenes, local efforts to protect the coast are bogged down in federal red tape.
"Those individuals who are making decisions from Washington, DC, need to be down here, not just for a photo op, not just for a soundbite, pack their bags and stay down here until this job is finished," said St. Bernard Parish President Craig Taffaro.
Governor Bobby Jindal is also growing increasingly frustrated with the pace of the federal decision making in the oil spill response. He says that's something he shared with Vice-President Biden.
"I think going forward we'll certainly see by their actions, are they going to move more quickly and are they going to actually approve and are they actually going to do the things we asked them to do, today," said Jindal. "Do they allow the mayor to deploy those rocks? Do we see more skimmers down here? Do we see a better response. Do they continue to shut us down?
The governor admits Vice President Biden left him with no specific commitments.
