Completely understandable:
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.”
Yes, indeed we are – and while our prayer is that Gustav will fizzle into a little light rain before it makes landfall in the United States, the crucial thing now, for the people of Louisiana, is that they have a Republican governor who won’t fall apart in a crisis, like the Democratic governor did during Katrina, ultimately causing all the problems which were entirely unfairly laid at President Bush’s feet. Michael Moore has been quoted as saying that this new hurricane developing around the GOP convention is proof there is a God…and he might be right, but not in the way he thinks…the American people will see a Republican response from the get-go, and will be able to compare and contrast to the Democratic response three years ago.
And I’m actually sorry it has to be this way – but it was the Democrats who turned Katrina into a nasty, slanderous, partisan political attack. Democrats cooked this nasty broth, and now they might just have to drink it to the dregs.
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