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Hurricane spurs McCain to scale back GOP convention

BY TOM BRUNE AND CRAIG GORDON | tom.

September 1, 2008

ST. LOUIS - The anticipated impact of Hurricane Gustav today will reverberate all the way from the Gulf states to Minnesota, where GOP presumptive nominee John McCain dramatically scaled back the GOP convention and left open the question of whether he would even attend.

Faced with a potentially disastrous storm during the week of his nomination as the Republican presidential candidate, McCain called a halt to the convention's long-planned festivities, limiting activities today in St. Paul to just the business that party rules require.

"This is a time when we have to do away with our party politics and we have to act as Americans," McCain said in a video feed from St. Louis to reporters in St. Paul yesterday.

McCain was taking a big, but possibly necessary step in postponing an event that plays a crucial role in introducing him and his running mate, Sarah Palin, to the American public ahead of the next two months of campaigning before the Nov. 4 election.

With the bungling of Hurricane Katrina three years ago still fresh in the public's memory, McCain did not want to present an image of Republicans celebrating while residents of Louisiana and nearby states evacuated their homes.

McCain sought to convey how he would act decisively and compassionately, in contrast to President George W. Bush, whom McCain has criticized for his slow response to the 2005 storm and flooding that crippled New Orleans.

Yesterday morning, McCain flew with his wife, Cindy, and running mate, Sarah Palin, to Jackson, Miss., to review hurricane preparations. He later returned to St. Louis for a political rally at a nearby minor league baseball park.

"I have every expectation that we will not see the mistakes of Katrina repeated," McCain said.

His campaign and party also put out a call for volunteers and donations, and chartered a DC-9 to transport affected delegates back to their homes.

Campaigning in Ohio, Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama also called for his network of donors and volunteers to help out, and the Democratic Party announced it was curtailing many of its opposition activities in St. Paul.

McCain headed to Ohio last night with a scant schedule for today while Palin flew to St. Paul ahead of her scheduled acceptance speech originally planned for tomorrow.

The convention will start today at 4 p.m., but will meet for just two-and-a-half hours instead of seven, McCain campaign manager Rick Davis said. All political speeches are suspended for now.

What will happen after today at the nearly $80-million convention, with an expected 45,000 in attendance, remained up in the air, Davis said, with everything "optional." "At some point between Monday and Thursday evening, we will convene once again to complete the activities needed to qualify Senator McCain and Governor Palin for the ballot in all 50 states," Davis said.

"Beyond that," he added, "all we can say is that we will monitor what is happening and make decisions about other convention business as details become available."

That includes whether or when McCain and Palin would actually show up at the convention.

McCain decided to trim today's convention program after Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney announced they had canceled their prime-time speeches in St. Paul tonight. Bush said he would instead fly to Texas today to review preparations at an emergency center and to meet with officials and evacuees.

McCain did not stop campaigning entirely. He and Palin appeared with former GOP primary rivals Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney at the River City Rascals minor league ballpark in O'Fallon, Mo.

Washington bureau chief Craig Gordon reported from St. Paul, Minn.