PREPARATION

As Gustav Threatens, McCain Promises Changes To Convention

by National Journal Staff

Sunday, Aug. 31, 2008


Obama Keeps Focus On Hurricane Gustavby Athena JonesAfter Ohio church service today, the Democratic nominee addresses concerns of Gulf Coast region. [more...]

Anxious Republicans are keeping a close eye on Hurricane Gustav today as it continues on a path projected to strike the United States on Monday morning. Campaign Manager Rick Davis put all of the week's convention events in flux, describing them as "optional" depending on the damage done by the storm.

The only certainty in the schedule is that a session will begin on Monday at 3 p.m. and end around 5:30 p.m., but Davis said it will be all business and no politics. Earlier today, Sen. John McCain said the format of the entire week must shift.

"There is very little doubt that we have to go from a party event to the call to the nation for action, action to help our fellow citizens in this time of tragedy and disaster, action in the form of volunteering, donations, reaching out our hands and our hearts and our wallets to the people who are under such great threat from this great natural disaster," McCain said. "I pledge that tomorrow night, and if necessary, throughout our convention if necessary, to act as Americans not Republicans, because America needs us now no matter whether we are Republican or Democrat."

President Bush and Vice President Cheney have already canceled plans to speak during the convention in person but might address delegates via video. And the McCain campaign has offered to fly members of the affected delegations back home.

Some Gulf Coast delegates evacuated their families before heading to Minnesota, while convention organizers opened communications with the states in harm's way and made contingency plans. A number of prominent convention participants spent the weekend preparing for the hurricane. All five states at risk have Republican governors, three of whom are slated for podium appearances: Texas Gov. Rick Perry is on the schedule for Monday, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal for Wednesday, and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist for Thursday. In addition, Alabama Gov. Bob Riley and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour were both bracing for the storm. There's a strong possibility that none of those governors will be at the convention.

"There's communication with the delegations in terms of making sure they have what they need, and with the Gulf State governors," one convention official said.

Governors aren't the only elected officials who could be missing this week because of the hurricane. The Louisiana delegation, for example, is scheduled to hold a celebration for Jindal one evening this week, a fundraiser for home-state Sen. David Vitter, and a breakfast with its entire GOP congressional delegation. Yet, word this weekend was that Jindal and Vitter, and much of the congressional delegation, would be no-shows.

As of Saturday, all Louisiana delegates had decided to treat Minnesota as their ready-made evacuation site. But they were rushing to protect their homes and families before departing.

Alicia Irmscher, an alternate delegate who lives near New Orleans, said that she and fellow alternate Stephanie Berault had "vacillated and vacillated" about whether to leave home. Irmscher, whose husband works for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said that her mother-in-law was supposed to fly to Louisiana today to help care for their 22-month-old. Now, Irmscher's husband and child are taking her to the airport and then evacuating to Shreveport.

Delegate Kim Carver, who lives in New Orleans, was cleaning out his refrigerator this weekend to prepare for an electricity outage and putting valuables on the highest floor of his home. He boarded up his house and planned to park his car on the third floor of the airport garage and head for Minnesota today.

"Minnesota will be our evacuation plan," Carver said with a nervous chuckle. "I don't like the idea of being that far away, but we already had our plane tickets and hotel, and hopefully the convention will be enjoyable and will keep our mind off of the storm. There's a lot of angst and anxiety involved, especially after [Katrina in] 2005."

Carver and Irmscher both fear that news will be dominated by Gustav and by flashbacks to the Bush administration's bungled response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

"It's a no-win situation," Carver said. Katrina "was a black eye for the [Bush] administration. I'm concerned about our property and our citizens, and I'm concerned about [media] coverage." Republicans "will appear to be callous and insensitive again to the Gulf Coast community. It has to be delicate the way it's handled."

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