President Bush has rightly taken time to visit the devastation caused by Hurricane Charley in Florida.

It’s not unusual for the president to comfort the victims of a natural disaster and bring promises of federal aid to help rebuild communities. Such activities are part of what presidents should do.

To date, however, the president has failed to attend a single funeral for a soldier killed in Iraq or Afghanistan.

At least 21 deaths have been attributed to Charley; the death toll in Iraq alone is approaching 1,000.

The arguments the president makes for skipping the military funerals also apply to the hard-hit families in Florida. Bush has said he doesn’t attend funerals because he does not want to impose the attention of a presidential visit on a grieving family. Also, because he could not attend every funeral, it would be unseemly to attend even one.

We think the reasons are more political. Showing up in Florida with aid generates good pictures and is good politics. News that the president is at a soldier’s funeral is a reminder that an increasingly unpopular war has cost another life. A human face – and a personal tragedy – are connected to the decision to send the U.S. military into a fight.