Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2005 9:07 a.m. EDT

Hillary Clinton's New Fundraising Focus: Katrina (Joyce's Note: If this wasn't so sad, it would be silly!)

Four days after Sen. Charles Schumer was widely criticized for invoking Hurricane Katrina to raise campaign cash, Hillary Clinton signaled that she would make the Bush administration's response to the Katrina disaster the new focus of her fundraising efforts.

Speaking Monday at a big-bucks Manhattan fundraiser for her 2006 reelection race, Clinton laced into Bush for the Katrina calamity, blasting what she described as a "total breakdown in leadership" at the White House.

"How could we, as Americans, have let this happen?" she fumed to donors, in quotes picked up by the New York Post.

The top Democrat also cited Katrina to undermine Bush's image as a strong guardian of national security, saying the, "We've had four years to fix [our emergency response]" - a clear reference to the just-passed 9/11 anniversary.

The former first lady said that the Bush administration's failed Katrina response would leave a "deep and lasting scar that we have to look at honestly."

Clinton has been a leading critic of Bush's handling of the disaster since Katrina's first raindrops fell. But yesterday's event was the first time the former first lady has used the staggering tragedy to raise campaign funds.

It's not known how much cash Clinton's Katrina fundraiser netted her campaign