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When we look back on Jeb Bush's time as governor, what will we remember?
The governor probably would like education and reading to be his legacy. But for many, it may well be Hurricane Charley.
Bush is at his best in times like this. He takes up residence in the state's emergency management center, meeting nonstop with meteorologists and emergency officials from all over the state.
He is the detail governor.
The governor appears on television as the storm approaches, urging people to evacuate. Over and over he warned people to get out of mobile home parks and low-lying areas.
Bush had just finished a routine briefing about noon last Friday when it was apparent the storm was turning and would come ashore in Charlotte County. He immediately stepped back into the room to show reporters a map.
He understands Floridians pay more attention to a governor who is warning them than some bureaucrat. As forecasters realized the storm was not only turning but growing stronger, Bush took to the air, warning people to evacuate where possible.
After it hit, he was in the air headed south to see for himself, to meet with local officials and talk to ordinary citizens reeling from the loss of everything they owned.
Bush understands hurricanes. As a private citizen living in Miami when Hurricane Andrew approached in 1992, Bush and his family fled to a friend's house to avoid an expected storm surge and rode out the hurricane like many other Floridians.
Throughout the past week, Bush has been a steady hand dropping in to commiserate with people who lost their homes, visiting schools and hospitals and summoning the resources a governor can command to help those in need.
When he read about the way a mobile home park owner was treating migrant farm workers, he ordered in the cavalry to help. Realizing the need for long-term funding, he created a committee that will continue raising money long after volunteers have gone home.
The horribly slow response by state and federal authorities to Hurricane Andrew left us with lessons learned.
On Friday morning as Hurricane Charley moved into the Gulf of Mexico, the governor fired off a letter to his brother, the president, seeking the federal disaster declaration that is needed before federal resources can pour into a stricken area.
As the storm moved ashore near Sanibel Island, the president declared Florida a disaster. Everyone knew what Charley would leave in its wake. We've all seen it before. It took former Gov. Lawton Chiles three days to ask for federal help after Hurricane Andrew hit the state.
No one wanted to see a repeat of that scene.
On the day the storm hit, long lines of utility trucks and tree trimming trucks gathered in North Florida, waiting for the rain and wind to pass. By early morning they were moving south in caravans to the areas in need of help. No one waited to see what the damage was before sending help.
Bush could easily justify a trip to New York to see his brother nominated for a second term as president, but he won't be going. Instead he'll be at home, making sure the state fulfills its obligation to storm victims.
In some ways Bush's attention to the storm is akin to campaigning. There are long days in the hot summer sun with people clamoring for his attention everywhere he stops.
And he is not alone.
Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings, Attorney General Charlie Crist, Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher and Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Bronson are all working the storm areas.
It's almost like we are seeing the future here as Jennings, Crist and Gallagher compete for attention. Could be this is the beginning of the 2006 governor's race.
It may be one of those rare moments when real people actually benefit from a political contest.