Bush's vows after Katrina go unfulfilled: Critics: Washington `all windup, no pitch'.

Byline: Mark Silva

Aug. 26--WASHINGTON -- One year after Hurricane Katrina's wind and water ruined 200,000 homes along the Gulf Coast and displaced nearly 1 million people, the city of New Orleans and smaller coastal communities are not all that remain to be rebuilt. President Bush, who accepted blame for the faltering federal response to the disaster, still suffers from the political fallout of a storm that raised questions about the competence of his administration in the face of a catastrophe and about his sensitivity to the poor. The president's political standing, also battered by an unpopular war and criticism of his handling of matters at home, has not recovered from a year of controversy rooted in Katrina. Some question whether it will ever recover. While the storm challenged the administration's readiness for crisis, incomplete cleanup and rebuilding efforts have cast doubts on the president's follow-through. The crisis exposed a deep vein of poverty in America, Bush said at the time, tracing that poverty to "a history of racial discrimination" and vowing to address its inequities. As Bush returns to New Orleans next week for the anniversary of the hurricane that hit Louisiana and Mississippi one year ago Tuesday, observers say, his year-old pledge to rebuild New Orleans and his promise "to confront this poverty with bold action" and "rise above the…