During his four day tour of New Orleans, Sen. John McCain said today that the Bush administration completely failed in their response to Hurricane Katrina. His long list of mistakes included “unqualified people in charge” and “a failure of communications.”

“We know we didn’t have the right kind of leadership … where government agencies were getting information from watching cable television rather than have a flow of information,” McCain said during an event at Xavier University in New Orleans.”

“It was not only a perfect storm as far as its physical impact … it was a perfect storm as far as the federal, state and local governments’ inability.”

“Never again will there be a mismanaged natural disaster,” he said, later assuring the crowd that “it will never happen again in this country; you have my commitment and my promise.”

McCain faced recent controversy concerning Katrina, after an endorsement by televangelist John Hagee. Hagee’s stance is that Hurricane Katrina was punishment for the sins of New Orleans residents. He later followed that remark by saying a homosexual parade that was to be held on the day Katrina hit could be the cause.

Although McCain said he was proud to have Hagee’s endorsement, he asserted that he does not agree with all of the pastor’s views. In an interview with Fox News he called the pastor’s remarks nonsense, nonsense, nonsense.

Q: What is your reaction (to Hagee Katrina comments)?

McCain: It’s nonsense.

Q: Would you withdraw accepting his endorsement?

McCain: It’s nonsense, it’s nonsense, it’s nonsense. It’s nonsense. I don’t have anything additional to say about that. It’s nonsense.

Q: Do you regret accepting his endorsement?

A: It’s nonsense. I don’t have anything more to say about that. Of course–I apologize for that. It’s nonsense. I reject that categorically and I would point out there’s a lot of people who have endorsed me. They support my views. That does not mean that I support–would I consider repudiating his endorsement? I certainly condemn those parts of his remarks. I continue to appreciate his support for the state of Israel and for many of the good things that he and his church has done. But I repudiate as strongly as possible those remarks and those of the Catholic church as well.

McCain vowed at a town hall meeting in Xavier University today that he would not repeat the Bush administration’s performance in Katrina. While this will help separate him from Hagee’s comments, his camp’s continued mention of Obama’s relation to Rev. Write could bring this into the forefront once more.