The White House dismisses analogies between the 2005 storm, which still haunts US politics, and the huge oil slick bearing down on the same coast.

But George W. Bush's botched response to Katrina provides an irresistible comparison as the media frames the narrative of Obama's presidency and top officials have clearly digested Katrina's political legacy.

Obama faces emergency problems in the crisis, then longer-term issues that may be with him for months or even years.

First, he must oversee the operation to cap the ruptured oil well and mitigate what he has called "potentially unprecedented" environmental tragedy.

Politically, the administration must show it is in control and acting aggressively to contain the damage.

Obama has repeatedly said BP is responsible for the disaster: US law states that the British oil giant, which operated the rig that exploded last month, must pay for damage control and compensation.

But his repeated mentions of BP, with a tinge of nationalism, also offer a place for public blame to rest, other than with his administration.

The president's trip to the disaster zone Sunday, appeared partly designed to push BP, local government, military and coast guard assets in the same direction.

As he got off Air Force One in New Orleans, Obama was seen with his arm around Louisiana's Republican governor Bobby Jindal.

During Katrina, the debacle was deepened by a clear lack of communication between Washington and the then political chiefs in Louisiana.

Obama later blasted the Bush administration's Katrina performance as "unconscionable ineptitude" -- a comment his own management of the oil slick disaster will now be judged against.

There have already been claims from Obama's critics that the White House was slow to respond to the oil rig explosion -- and it is not the first time people have referred to Obama's Katrina.

When a Nigerian man tried to blow up a US airliner on Christmas Day, the president was vacationing in Hawaii -- and criticized for not immediately appearing on television to address the crisis.

When Haiti's deadly earthquake struck a few weeks later, the administration appeared to have learned a lesson -- Obama was swiftly out in public to show he was managing a relief effort.

Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs Sunday defended the administration on the oil disaster.

"The President has asked this team since the beginning of this incident to do everything humanly possible as aggressively as we can, to manage and deal with this emergency," Gibbs said.

The White House has been careful to ensure the media narrative of the disaster does not assume its own course.

Officials have blitzed journalists with updates on the effort to cap the well, and preserve wetlands, fishing grounds and tourist beaches.

And Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen was appointed as the "national incident commander" establishing a clear chain of command.

Obama's visit to the Gulf Coast was also symbolically important.

He could have been fully briefed in Washington, but the visit suggested a man of action and offered the emblematic power of Air Force One landing near the disaster zone.

During Katrina, a picture of Bush peering out the window of the presidential plane at the devastation beneath became a disastrous symbol of an administration seen as out of touch.

Few things are as damaging for an administration as seeming divorced from the reality of a crisis.

The White House said Friday that Obama would not make an immediate visit to the disaster zone -- yet reversed course by the next morning.

So far, the administration appears to have escaped political damage, but should BP's efforts to cap the well continue to fail, the administration could face tricky political territory.

The disaster also tests the rationale of Obama's entire presidency -- his belief, unlike many Republicans, that government can be a force for good.

"What troubles me is when I hear people say that all of government is inherently bad," Obama told a University of Michigan graduation Saturday.

"Government is what ensures that mines adhere to safety standards and that oil spills are cleaned up by the companies that caused them."

Long term challenges also loom.

Though BP is financially responsible for the disaster, it is all but certain that government funds and action will be needed.

Gulf seafood and tourism industries will be damaged, with knock-on effects on unemployment and the regional and national economy.

The slick has also gummed up Obama's plan to tackle climate change -- through a comprehensive energy policy that would include tracts of offshore waters opened for oil drilling.

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