GOP Weighs Delaying Convention For Gustav

Party Officials Say Storm's Potential Impact On Gulf Coast Being Considered

(Washingtonpost.com)  Republican officials said yesterday that they are considering delaying the start of the GOP convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul because of Tropical Storm Gustav, which is on track to hit the Gulf Coast, and possibly New Orleans, as a full-force hurricane early next week.

The threat is serious enough that White House officials are also debating whether President Bush should cancel his scheduled convention appearance on Monday, the first day of the convention, according to administration officials and others familiar with the discussion.

For Bush and Republican presidential candidate John McCain, Gustav threatens to provide an untimely reminder of Hurricane Katrina. A new major storm along the Gulf Coast would renew memories of one of the low points of the Bush administration, while pulling public attention away from McCain's formal coronation as the GOP presidential nominee.

Senior Republicans said images of political celebration in the Twin Cities while thousands of Americans flee a hurricane could be dubious. "Senator McCain has always been sensitive to national crisis," said McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds, noting that the senator postponed announcing his presidential candidacy in 2000 because of the war in the Balkans. "We are monitoring the situation very closely."

Matt Burns, a spokesman for the convention, said that as of last night, it is scheduled to open on time. "We are planning for our convention to open on Monday," he said. "Like all Americans, we are monitoring the situation closely in the Gulf."

Staging a convention during a major natural disaster would be a public relations challenge for either political party. But GOP officials say the burden could be especially heavy for their party, whose reputation was tarred by the Bush administration's bungling of Katrina and its aftermath in 2005.

A hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico could also cast unwelcome attention on the offshore oil rigs that McCain has championed as a solution to rising gasoline prices -- they are now being evacuated in the face of the coming storm.

One senior GOP official said he does not anticipate a convention delay at this point, but he said the event would have to be reorganized if a large storm hit a major city on the coast.

"You would have to dramatically change the nature of what you do. Much less partisan. Much less political," said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because internal discussions are ongoing. He added that all the speakers would have to retool their addresses to reflect the storm and its impact. "Otherwise, it's the elephant in the room."

Gustav is the first serious storm to threaten the Gulf Coast in three years, and it presents the most substantial challenge to the nation's homeland security apparatus since it was remade in the wake of Katrina, which hit three years ago today.

Gustav formed Monday and came ashore in Haiti on Tuesday as a Category 1 hurricane, trigging massive flooding and landslides that killed 23 people in the Caribbean. Forecasters said the storm could strengthen to a Category 3 hurricane with winds of 111 mph or higher in coming days, before hitting somewhere between the Florida Panhandle and Texas.

To make matters worse, another tropical storm, named Hanna, formed in the Atlantic Ocean yesterday and could turn toward Florida or elsewhere along the southeastern U.S. coast in coming days, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has raised the possibility of canceling his speech at the Republican convention because of the storm, while New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin cut short his visit to this week's Democratic convention in Denver.

White House press secretary Dana Perino said yesterday that it was "premature to say" whether the storm might have an impact on Bush's scheduled appearance Monday night. "These storms have a tendency to change, and so I don't have a scheduling update for you now," she told reporters. "Right now everything is on schedule."

Former White House spokesman Scott McClellan, who said in a recent book that Hurricane Katrina left "an indelible stain" on the Bush presidency, said Bush should be making plans to cancel his speech.

"If it's a major hurricane, I think that they certainly need to show they learned lessons from three years ago, both from a policy and perception standpoint," McClellan said.

He also suggested that McCain could benefit politically from such a scenario: It would allow Bush to mount an effective GOP response to a disaster, while removing the unpopular president from the convention roster. "It could be a two-fer," McClellan said.

Some Republicans bemoaned an apparent GOP curse when it comes to summer storms and noted the contrast between the approach of Gustav and the sunny weather in Denver for the Democrats. "The Republicans can't seem to catch a break when it comes to August and when it comes to the weather," said Karl Rove, a former Bush adviser, on Fox News yesterday.

Hurricane Andrew struck South Florida as a Category 5 storm in August 1992, and the sluggish federal response was castigated by state leaders as well as then-candidate Bill Clinton in his successful bid to defeat President George H.W. Bush that fall.

The current President Bush believed that the nation had dodged a bullet after Hurricane Katrina struck in August 2005, only to realize belatedly that New Orleans had flooded and his administration's homeland security apparatus was overwhelmed.

Experts said that key for Bush and perhaps for McCain will be the ability of U.S. officials to respond quickly to unforeseen problems and stay ahead of the unfolding events, something they failed to do in the week after New Orleans flooded.

"This may be the October surprise in September," said George W. Foresman, former undersecretary of preparedness for the Department of Homeland Security. "Public messaging and attention to the public affairs part of the response is going to get added attention."

Michael D. Brown, who was forced out as chief of the Federal Emergency Management Agency after Katrina, said all sides appear to have learned the importance of paying attention to disaster response.

"The American people want to know the people they elected are paying attention, care about them and are making decisions they need to make," Brown said. "The smart thing is not to poke their chests out and say what a great job they're doing or going to do, but just to do what needs to be done."

Staff writer Spencer S. Hsu contributed to this report.

[ajaxtheleast]

Oh great!!!

Obama''s stadium success !!!

The heavens threatening !!!

suddenly McCain looks like

an outside John !!!

[kaliveotin]

Now they care? They dont care about the people of the Gulf coast. We already know that tune (of indifferance) The Republicans are very afraid of how they''ll look to voters while the Democratic Convention is still fresh in peoples minds. Frankly, the republicans will look terrible no matter when they hold thier convention because they really cant justify thier performance these past TOO many years.
We already know they have no new ideas and nothing of significant interest to say. All they''ll do is restart the Old attack machine. We wont be fooled again.

[irliberal]

Heheh... if they''re worried about someone raining on their parade they better just cancel it altogether! LOL!!!

[mcvet-1]

They need to just get on with it... no one cares anyway! I can already tell you what they are going to say! Everyone repeat the LIE with me! "We will cut Taxes for the Rich, which will Trickle Down to you regular people. We will pay for that cut by cutting spending (don''t ask us to show where we have done that or what we will cut), that will balance the budget (which we have NEVER done before) and we''ll all live happy ever after"! After hearing this LIE for 30 years it''s amazing that some still believe it!!

[misha128-2009]

Could they be playing for more time to craft responses to the content from the Democrats they have now seen?

[jmurrieta1]

As if anything will wipe out the memory of how slow the Bushites were in New Orleans.

Contrast with their rapid response to send "aid" to a country halfway around the world.

But those people are White! And the people of New Oreleans are just N-words!

Bush is like a guy you take out duck hunting in your boat. He blows a hole in the bottom of your boat with his shotgun, then says "see, boats don''t work!"

[r9119111]

trrrorislam6:

Who is paying you to write such rubbish?

[whiskyrokkr]

McVet-1
-------
You couldn''t have said it better. There all slimballs.

[babooph]

Quick-have Pat Robertson get God to divert the storm-as he always has[I remember him getting a large # of votes too!!

[credibility2]

Let''s not forget that the mayor of NO and the governor of LA were mostly part to blame for their delayed response and organization. Blame too the people that opted not to leave the area, even after sufficient warnings were given. The excuse of not having any transportation isn''t valid, because any individual without such could''ve sought alternative measures. That FEMA was a failure at this time goes without saying. I find it ironic that there are still morons living in NO waiting for the government to reorganize their lives and make it all nicey-nice, instead of them taking some personal responsibility and accountability and not relying on more taxpayer handouts. The fact that people are still hanging around and living in trailers isn''t an indictment against the government, it is an indictment against individuals who are frozen mentally and can''t think for themselves.

[efarris38]

I agree President Kennedy would be appalled at the way the Bush admn has handled things the last 8 yrs. I am ashamed of this admn. We have been the laughing stock of the world the last 8 yrs. It is now time to get down to business and repair the economy, focus on Afghanistan, cut middle classs taxes, invest in education and schools, get at least some health coverage for all Americans even if it is limited, and most of all clean up the environment and stiffen EPA regulations.

[panhandlpete]

Too bad the REPUBS want all the media attention during their convention. They know that the American public has a short-term memory loss problem (condition of aging) so if they can put just the right amount of time between the two conventions, only the lies told by the REPUBS will get remembered.

They are so genius with catchy phrases that I predict they are working on some right now which will show the people just how ''divine intervention makes them the best leaders for this country by bringing Gustav.''

You can bet the farm that if or when Gustav makes landfall in the US, federal assistance will be the best and strongest ever and will receive continuous media coverage. You may have to read between the lines to find the truth.

[mrmazerati]

Does anybody else find it incredibly ironic that they were praying for Obama to get rained out, and now the GOP is getting a hurricane?

[ajaxtheleast]

The GOP may delay the convention.

But not because of the weather.

They''re trying out camera angles in a stadium
to see if they can make an unscripted audience
of 10 look like 84,001 before they contact their usual stand-by scripted audience equipped with
their own pairs of Flip Flops.

[mr2258]

The United States Of America is just that-UNITED.The Republican convention should wait until the storms pass.All attention should be on the ones in the path of the storms.Plenty of time for the convention after all is safe.

[ofbyfor1]

Does anybody else find it incredibly ironic that they were praying for Obama to get rained out, and now the GOP is getting a hurricane?

Posted by mrmazerati at 08:05 AM : Aug 29, 2008

The old saying, ''Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it'' comes to mind, LOL!

[gramto8]

Posted by Douglas_Dunn at 08:25 AM : Aug 29, 2008

My sentiments exactly, Douglas!! Thank you for ''voicing'' them. Credibility2 lacks any credibility in most of his posts, but this one is the pits!

[pr_boxer]

The GOP might as well cancel their convention, they''re going to be buried in November anyway!

[starleo146]

etter yet, MOVE THE Repug Convention to New Orleans and show the world you have a set of balls.

Hurricane Party!!!

Posted by Nancy_Naive at 08:26 AM : Aug 29, 2008

if you are going to have one why not New Orleans,but they wont I do not know why they are considering to postpone their convention they do not care about Hurricanes or their victims of them. Need Proof look back 3 yrs ago this month to Katrina

[clovisbuford]

PREVENT AMNESTY,,, VOTE GOP,,,
ummmm it is the DEMONIC-RATS that want to GRANT AMNESTY to ILLEGALS,,, including HUSSEIN,,,
HUSSEINs solution for illegals is to GRANT them AMNESTY and AMERICANS HAVT to learn SPANISH,,,Posted by trrrorislam6 at 05:44 AM : Aug 29, 2008
The politics of fear , when a party has nothing to offer but stale ideas,and their own failure , katrina being one of them .... good luck with that , may it prove to be consolation to you on Nov. 5th

[justice1776]

"You liberals will never be happy. If we ignore them and let them die you complain and if it hits this year and we make an over the top effort to care you will claim we are just trying to get elected!"

WHAT ***! You don''t give a *** about "caring." You would just as soon ''let them die.'' You just don''t want a natural disaster to steal your thunder and take the spotlight away from your pathetic convention. You couldn''t care less about the city or its people, you blithering hypocrite.

[liberalme]

You liberals will never be happy. If we ignore them and let them die you complain and if it hits this year and we make an over the top effort to care you will claim we are just trying to get elected!

Posted by gop_forever

Well, seeing as "good job Brownie" did such a terrific job 3 years ago, and his mom the renown epitomy of compassion said this about the people in the arena "And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them."

Unfortunately for the Gross Old Party---if the hurricane does hit that area, the only logical reason for the cons to help out WOULD be for political purposes only---The current GOP has NEVER been interested in what is best for the PEOPLE and OUR Country.

[nextgenman]

James Dobson prays for rain against the evil political party. His prayers may be answered.

[jmurrieta1]

The Repugs have screwed up so many times, in so many ways, in the last 8 years, they''re afraid somebody might remember.

We will, Repugs, and we do.

Buh-byeee!

[asmre]

McCain is just an old warmonger and an adulterer with his mistress, Cindy!!! No matter what they try to do to bolster his sad campaign - the candidate is a DUD!!!

[walt1944-2009]

It has been learned that the neocon Fascist Nazi RNC may be postponed or even cancelled, supposedly because of the threat of hurricane Gustav to the Gulf. Supposedly, the neocon Fascist Nazis feel it would be "inappropriate" to be celebrating in the streets of St. Paul, while people are losing what little they have left in the Gulf.

It is even rumored that The Great Emperor Bush II may not attend the convention, so that he can "take charge" (in his usual fashion), should a disaster like Katrina be repeated.

However, there are those, particularly in light of the wildly-successful DNC in Denver this past week, who believe that the real reasons are that the RNC "production" would look boring in comparison, especially if John McBush McCain were to fall asleep at the podium.

And, there is also the constant fear that the ballons would NOT fall from the ceiling at the end of the RNC as they refused to do for the DNC in 2004, a bad sign at any convention! Besides, how can ballons compete with fireworks and confetti????

SIG HEIL, BUSH!!!!
sig heil, THE OLDER CLONE, McCain!!!!!

[eclecticman1]

Compare Obama to Lincoln. Lincoln - 8 years in the Illinois House; obama - 8 years in the Illinois Senate; Lincoln - 2 years in Congress; Obama- 2 years in the Senate. Experience is great for a plumber but is it necessary for a President? James Buchana, Lincoln''''s predecessor, had the greatest prior experience of any American president. Until Bush he was rated the worst president in our history. Being president means being mature, having good judgement, being intelligent, and having emotional strength. Obama has all of these qualities.

[lazareth-2009]

Jeez,can he even make it down them steps on his own?

[wdrussell1]

Hey GOPers. Make sure you hand out purple bandaids to show that you respect McCain as much as you did Kerry.

[obriann]

They''re in Minnesota! This is a stall so they don''t have to try to follow the Democrativ convention. They want more time to REVISE their conference plans!

[liberalme]

They''''re in Minnesota! This is a stall so they don''''t have to try to follow the Democrativ convention. They want more time to REVISE their conference plans!
Posted by obriann

Actually they were trying to find more than the 10,000 people they had planned for--sort of like and additional 65,000 but couldn''t find any takers.
Many figured out sitting through all the crapola the GOP has to offer would be more painful than a root canal.

[slim1h2o]

NO compassion here.

Gustav is scheduled to hit LA late Monday or early Tuesday

Posted by Policrypt at 09:55 AM : Aug 29, 2008

Haven''t you heard? Compassion has been killed of in the past 8 years. In fact, It may have died off back in the 70''s.

They may as well go ahead and have their convention. Then they can blame their defeat in November on a weather event. It''ll make about as much sense as anything else they''ve said these last eight years.

[Razzl]

The McCain campaign is a slow-moving train wreck which everyone but the passengers can see coming. Why would they want Bush to speak at the convention? The Republican Party needs to show that it''s moved on from Bush and Cheney, not remind everyone about them. We also know the Bush administration is incapable of mounting an effective hurricane response, or that even good hurricane responses don''t look very good on tv. The Republican convention will inevitably look like a gathering of cranky old angry white people thumbing their noses at the rest of us and blabbing about Iraq like it was World War II, not likely to result in any bounce for them this time around. On top of that, McCain''s veep choice is likely to create more negative buzz within the party than positive buzz among independents.

The only thing that can rescue this convention is to reschedule it for the Superdome this week and hope to look heroic with the rain in their faces...

[Razzl]

"I''''m a die hard Republican. I don''''t agree with basic Democrat philosophy. However, as a person with a brain, how could I vote Republican?"

As a Democrat who''s occasionally had to go the opposite way, I salute any honest man who''s willing to swallow his pride in public for the sake of his country...

[newz4i]

What is this?

GOPers are designing/using a plan ... a hurricane to hide Cheney and Bush?

Hmmm, I wonder if an evangelical conservative minister prayed for the wrong weather system.

[roughtimes]

The democratic congress rating is worse than for President Bush..so what do you have to brag about.
I am glad the Republicans are taking it serious enough to cancel a convention in threat of a disaster. I do not live on the coast now. After Katrina I sold my home that was 33 miles inland in Ms and moved back to my home state of Texas after building my retirement home. No I do not live there anymore, but, my heart goes out to the people that do live there. If the dems are so caring of people as you promoted in your convention, then why? all the negative and ugly things being said. I received 2500.00 from damages. I used that money to get back there and clean up the mess. It was a hard time and not being from that area, it was a beautiful area and I did want to retire there, decided I did not want to go through that again. So I am not sure where you get the information that we just drain our government of money. I can assure you that the 2500.00 did not restore my life, I did. So you democrats had a great party, I am sure many people that went through that horrible time would have enjoyed the money just blown on hype for the new puppet president!
As for me and my house in N Tx I will pray that people do not die or lose homes over a storm they have do not have control over. It might be time to show compassion and be an example of all the hype you spoke of at the convention you just finished or is that too much to ask?

[wdrussell1]

**NAIVE HUSSEIN SEES AMERICA AS EVIL,,,**

And terrorislam under his dozens of names proves it.

[lazareth-2009]

McSame just commited politcal suicide by picking a no name woman gov. from Alaska.

[armydog2]

Mccain could not give away enough tickets to fill the convention hall.looser.

[slim1h2o]

McSame just commited politcal suicide by picking a no name woman gov. from Alaska.
Posted by lazareth at 11:34 AM : Aug 29, 2008

Either that, or he''s a political genius, which I doubt.

But hey!, Ya just never know.

[wdrussell1]

Shows you how lame terrorislam is
Google Bush Hitler.
1,100,000 links.

[roughtimes]

does the democratic party have a problem with women? Excuse me except for Nancy P, that pushed Obama on everyone.
Senator Clinton tried to break that glass ceiling with 18 million votes...think about it..why not a woman for Vice President we have fought for women''s rights longer than Blacks have fought for civil rights.

[jb20084]

Isn''t it funny that certain republicians prayed for rain during the Democratic Convention, which turned out beautifully - and they are facing a hurricane?

[briannorwood]

Right! Remember Stuart Shepard, the televangelist was looking for people who will pray for rain -- "on a certain day, at a certain time, in a certain location."

...I guess God was listening! LOL!

[aboz3]

With McCain''s pick for VP they may want to delay the convention until January.

[sparks224]

GOP Weighs Delaying Convention For Gustav

Why? to show their concern for the people in New Orleans?

What a laugh.

[lewiston14]

Well I think the timing just would not be very good if people are drowing in a storm only nature can make and people having a party further north. It is something that has to be considered and im sure if the rolls were reversed the DNC would be think along those very same lines. Perception is a major factor in this battle of DNC and RNC people. If NO gets blasted off the face of the earth again its the the way nature works. You cant change it only get out of its path. It may sputter into nothing if it hits cuba or it may not. Where it will hit will not be known for a couple or more days if it hits at all but it looks like it will. With how much power only nature knows that.

[raydm06415]

In my humble opinion, I don%u2019t think that this election really matters.

Let%u2019s look at the issues that the Republicans and Democrats both Support:

%u2022 Invasion and Occupation of Iraq
%u2022 Patriot Act
%u2022 Invasion of Afghanistan
%u2022 Kosovo War
%u2022 Increased Military Budget
%u2022 Death Penalty
%u2022 Corporate Agriculture
%u2022 Drug War
%u2022 Telecommunications Deregulation - Giveaway of public broadcast spectrum to private companies.
%u2022 Bank Deregulation and Banking Reform - Do I hear sub prime mortgage anyone?
%u2022 Expanded (Global) Corporate Power Trade Agreements and Institutions (NAFTA, FTAA, CAFTA, WTO)


Now look at the issues that both the Republicans and Democrats both oppose:

%u2022 Global Warming - Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions
%u2022 National Health Insurance
%u2022 Real Campaign Finance Reform & Publicly Financed Elections
%u2022 Electoral Reforms & Democracy
%u2022 2000 Florida Election - Congressional Investigation
%u2022 Reform of the Presidential Debate Commission
%u2022 Strict Standards on Genetically Modified Organisms

[noloyalisti]

Maybe the GOP should cancel their convention completely. After all they don''t believe in the government.

No one can give me one good reason to vote for more of the same debt, foreclosures, outsourcing jobs, higher oil prices, more war, torture and spying and less civil and women''s rights. Let''s talk the issues now.