Isaac threat delays start of GOP convention

Republican officials announced plans last night to scrap the first day of their national convention, bowing to a threat posed by Tropical Storm Isaac, churning toward Florida.

"Our first priority is ensuring the safety of delegates, alternates, guests, members of the media attending the Republican National Convention, and citizens of the Tampa Bay area," party chairman Reince Priebus said in an emailed announcement that followed private conversations involving presidential candidate Mitt Romney's campaign, security officials and others.

Priebus added that forecasters have predicted that convention-goers "may encounter severe transportation difficulties due to sustained wind and rain" Monday, the day the convention had been scheduled to open.

The announcement said that, although the convention would officially be gaveled into session Monday as scheduled, the day's events would be canceled until Tuesday.

That meant Romney's formal nomination would be postponed by a day, from Monday to Tuesday, but the balance of the four days of political pageantry and speechmaking would go on as scheduled. The convention will end Thursday with Romney's prime-time acceptance speech, which aides hope will propel him into a successful fall campaign and, eventually, the White House.

The former Massachusetts governor campaigned with running mate Paul Ryan in battleground Ohio Saturday, pledging to help women entrepreneurs and innovators who are eager to create small businesses and the jobs that go with them. It was an economy-themed countdown to the GOP convention taking shape in a city already bristling with security -- and bracing for a possible hurricane.

"Women in this country are more likely to start businesses than men. Women need our help," said the Republican presidential challenger, eager to relegate recent controversy over abortion to the sidelines and make the nation's slow economic recovery the dominant issue of his convention week.

The polls made the race a close one, narrow advantage to Obama, as two weeks of back-to-back conventions approached. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on television ads, with hundreds of million more to come, almost all of it airing in a small group of battleground states expected to settle the election.

The list included Florida and North Carolina, where the Democratic National Convention will be held in one week's time.

After Romney's uneven run through the primary contests of winter and spring, the GOP convention was made to order for him from start to finish. Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and other foes from the long-ago primaries weren't even a nuisance as the four-day event approached.

In Ohio yesterday, Romney said Obama's entire campaign rested on his ability to persuade people to ignore his record and listen instead to his rhetoric.

Romney's speech included an appeal to women made on economic grounds rather than on social issues like abortion.

His objective appears to be to erode Obama's advantage among women voters and those who say Democrats are better equipped to handle Medicare, the giant health care program for seniors.