Tampa, Fla., Mayor Bob Buckhorn has gone on the record and said that there'd be no hesitation in calling off next week's Republican National Convention if Tropical Storm Isaac (which may soon be Hurricane Isaac) poses a threat. "Human safety, human life trumps politics.... I think the RNC recognizes that," Buckhorn told CNN (video below). "In the event there's a storm that looks like it's coming this way ... our job and my job will be to make sure that the safety of the delegates, the delegations, the visitors, the guests, as well my residents are first and foremost."
Now, before politics is thrown into this (Buckhorn is a Democrat), it should be noted that Tampa is set to make somewhere around $150 million from the convention, and that it's in his city's best interest to have a smooth-sailing convention. The big question of course, will be if Isaac hits. Accuweather meteorologists are predicting that the storm will curve north later this weekend and into Monday (right when the convention starts), but as we know, hurricanes are unpredictable. They write:
At present forward speed (approximately 20 mph), the greatest impact in the Tampa area is likely to occur Monday afternoon into Tuesday with conditions potentially deteriorating during Sunday night, depending on the nature of spiral bands preceding the system.
The worst case scenario from a Tampa standpoint would be if Isaac were to take a rare path by swinging over the Gulf of Mexico, strengthen, then curve northeastward toward or just north of the city on the Florida west coast.
And here's Buckhorn:
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