Louisiana GOP delegates Bob Ellis (left) and Stephen Gele donned red ribbons Sunday to symbolize that their hearts and thoughts were with Gulf Coast residents, bracing for hurricane Gustav. (Photos by Mary Knox Merrill/Staff)
Hurricane Gustav’s political fallout: a subdued GOP convention
By Linda Feldmann | Staff writer/ September 1, 2008 edition
Reporter Linda Feldmann discusses how hurricane Gustav might affect John McCain and the GOP.
Reporter Linda Feldmann
GOP delegate Roy Roberts
Minneapolis
Forget the funny hats, glitzy parties, and rousing, partisan speeches. The sober business of hurricane Gustav – though making landfall 1,200 miles away from the Twin Cities – has sent the 2008 Republican National Convention into uncharted territory.
What normally would have been a four-day extravaganza advertising the GOP ticket of John McCain and Sarah Palin has been downsized, at least early in the week, into a bare-bones affair. The Republicans could not afford to appear insensitive to the plight of the nation’s Gulf Coast.
“There’s nothing to gain from politics as usual,” says John Zogby, an independent pollster.
Many actors face crucial tests this week: President Bush, months away from leaving office, has an opportunity to redeem himself from the missteps of hurricane Katrina three years ago. Although local and state officials shared in the blame, Mr. Bush appeared asleep at the wheel and his presidency never really recovered.
Senator McCain and Alaska’s Governor Palin, who was just named to the ticket last Friday, needed to appear engaged in the response effort and above politics. Sunday morning, they headed to the Gulf region for a briefing and to call on Americans to volunteer or donate money. “America needs us now, no matter whether we are Republican or Democrat,” said McCain, who has made service a central campaign theme.
Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee, and his running mate Joseph Biden also needed to adopt a serious, apolitical posture. Like McCain, Senator Obama received official briefings on the storm and said he would send a mass e-mail to supporters urging them to get involved in relief efforts.
At any point, if either presidential ticket is seen as trying to gain political advantage from the situation, that could backfire seriously. But with just a little more than two months until Election Day, the political ramifications are unavoidable. For McCain, there’s no avoiding the fact that the “frame” of the convention is a Gulf Coast hurricane that looks eerily similar to the one that devastated New Orleans and the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts three years ago almost to the day. Even if preparation and relief go better than during Katrina, which they are bound to do, all the talk about Katrina brings back unhappy memories of government incompetence.
Still, says Republican pollster Frank Luntz, there could be an upside for McCain. “If Bush does a great job, then McCain is affected,” he said. But the flip side is also true: Another botched federal effort, and McCain suffers – all because he’s got an R (for Republican) after his name.
Gustav already appears to have given McCain a political gift: Bush and Vice President Cheney canceled their Monday night speeches, and they are not likely to attend the convention at all. The absence of these unpopular figures helps McCain distance himself from them.
The naming of Governor Palin to the ticket, a vocal social conservative, “already fired up the troops,” says Steven Schier, a political scientist at Carleton College in Northfield, Minn. With Bush and Cheney absent, “it will be harder to make the ‘McSame’ charge.”
But there’s a big downside to losing four solid nights of television coverage that amounts to an infomercial, especially in the wake of the Democrats’ successful convention last week.
“He doesn’t get a chance, when all of America is listening, to provide an unedited commentary about what he believes and what he wants to do,” Mr. Luntz told reporters after conducting a focus group of undecided voters here in Minneapolis. “It is a huge loss for him personally, but it could be a success for the GOP if – and this is a big if – they handle the tragedy effectively.”
In a way, Gustav is doing to McCain what McCain did to Obama. By announcing his surprise running mate the morning after Obama’s acceptance speech, nearly all discussion of the Obama grand finale ceased as the political world scrambled to learn more about Palin and analyze the meaning of her selection. Whether a muted Republican convention can grab public attention beyond the GOP base remains to be seen. The severity of the storm will determine just how subdued Republicans need to remain for the rest of the week.
In the early going, at least, no one was taking any chances – either canceling events altogether or rebranding them. On Monday night, the “Political Chicks A Go-go” late-night party, sponsored by RightNOW!, Lifetime Networks, and others was retooled into a fundraiser for the Red Cross hurricane-relief fund. The Democratic National Committee canceled a reception for the media on Sunday and a “More of the Same” rally on Monday.
A number of Republican governors also announced they weren’t coming to the GOP convention. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger bowed out, citing a state budget dispute. All the governors of states in the hurricane’s path also announced they weren’t coming: Bobby Jindal of Louisiana (a rising star the party was hoping to showcase during prime time), Haley Barbour of Mississippi, Rick Perry of Texas, Bob Riley of Alabama, and Charlie Crist of Florida.
Numerous Republican members of the House and Senate facing tough reelection challenges had already announced they weren’t coming, such as Sens. John Sununu of New Hampshire and Gordon Smith of Oregon.
Some delegates from the Gulf region opted to head home, instead of staying for the convention, but others felt it important to stay and help nominate McCain and Palin. If nothing else, the convention must adopt the party platform and formally nominate the GOP ticket.
“I do hate it that we’re having a hurricane during the time of the meeting, but that’s unavoidable,” says Roy Roberts, a delegate from Houston. “I just hope that everything turns out all right – here and there…. So we’ll blow our whistles and toot our horns and hope our man wins.”
– Staffer Mary Knox Merrill contributed to this report.
Comments
2. Thoren | 09.01.08
McCain is saving his Lieberman pick for the Supreme Court — sorry evangelicals but you’ll have no leverage at that point on his maverick pick. Your Vice President will have no power in the process and a Democratic majority will confirm him happily! Check Mate!
3. M. Tobias | 09.01.08
I see this cynically as an attempt to keep Bush and Cheney from appearing at the RNC. Oh, now we are so worried for the good people of Louisiana. Give me a break. It is apparrant to anyone following that GUstav will not be the storm that Katrina was, and it will nto be a direct hit on populatoni centers.
4. joseph marcucilli | 09.01.08
Why would McCain announce already, that he will accept his nomination by video feed from the gulf area? We call this “showboating” at the expense of human tragedy.All he is trying to do is “look” presidential but not “be” presidential.
5. James | 09.01.08
Gustav is a gift to the Republican Party–Bush can stay in Crawford and Cheney in his bunker; Republicans running for reelection have a great excuse to stay home, Sarah Palin can avoid press scrutiny and John McCain won’t have to give his acceptance speech in front of a huge crowd. But of course it’s all out of respect for the residents of Louisiana.
6. Thoren58 | 09.01.08
We learned this week McCain really wanted to choose his very good friend, Joe Lieberman, for VP but caved into pressure from the religious right. McCain will save his Lieberman pick for the Supreme Court — sorry evangelicals but you’ll have no leverage at that point on maverick McCain. Your Vice President will have no power in the process and a Democratic majority will confirm him happily! Check Mate!
7. Jon Iscream | 09.01.08
Do you think for one second the communists (Democrats) would have put aside their convention for the sake of the nation. If you do, I want some of what you been smoking.
8. David L | 09.01.08
Palin is more of the same, sorry. She supported the “bridge to nowhere” before she opposed it. McSame is using a natural disaster for his benefit, while proposeing nothing different than our last president. I honestly liked McCain in 2000 and voted for him (I’m a Democrat) Too bad Mccain sold his soul to the right wing wacko’s, I miss the old John McCain.
9. Ron | 09.01.08
McCain told NBC’s “Today” show in an interview broadcast yesterday. “This is just one of those moments in history where you have to put America first.” Can I vomit now…… A campaign slogan…. Put America first ….. what about during Katrina when he was eating Birthday cake with George Bush while people drowned ?.. Where was America then ?
10. Cheryl | 09.01.08
Someone needs to live where communism is really in political practice. Maybe one needs to live in Russia or N Korea for awhile to really understand what the word means. Some of us vote for the person who they believe wil do the best job, not what party they are. Both parties have some good ideas, they just cannot seem to ever, and I mean ever agree on anything. Sad.
11. M. Tobias | 09.01.08
Sarah Palin has turned out to be fiscally irresponsible:
In Mayoral performance:
Palin, who portrays herself as a fiscal conservative, racked up nearly $20 million in long-term debt as mayor of the tiny town of Wasilla — that amounts to $3,000 per resident. She argues that the debt was needed to fund improvements.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12987.html
Toward the very bottom.
Not to mention that she is in the pocket, completely of the Oil industry in Alaska. Just what America needs, more oil people in the White House.
12. Snider | 09.01.08
The posturing of every political figure involved in this, whether democrat and republican, is to a large degree predictable. Each is forced, in any election year, to play their respective parts of sympathy, whether real or imaginary. I must say I am even more disappointed than usual by the cowardly lockstep defection of the major TV anchor people, all for Gustav, who will doubtless merely retreat to the safeties of their respective newsrooms, complete with storm ‘wallpaper’, their perfect excuse to deal any blow possible to the republican convention itself, by cutting off the oxygen of air time every convention needs. So much for equal time. The transparency and ineptitude of major network media is rivaled only by their cowardice. Shame on you, anchor people! Anyone can cover a storm, you just stand there and get rained on. It takes a little experience and some brains to cover a political event. The bunch of you will go down in history with egg on your faces.
13. Selene | 09.01.08
When there was true national emergency with Katrina, McSame and Bush were busy partying, eating cake and (eventually) creating a photo op pretending to be flying over Louisiana. Now they’ve created a national drama over a catagory 2 storm.
When I thought the party couldn’t sink any lower . . . what’s that woman’s name? She was elected once and hasn’t served out the first 2-year term, after being the mayor of a small village.
The entire population of Alaska would fit into a corner of Chicago. She’s the most anti-woman candidate that I could possibly imagine. The victims of rape and incest should have a choice to birth those children. It’s just we need a heartbeat away from the spot being sought by the oldest man ever with multiple cases of cancer.
McSame doesn’t mind federal funding for Viagra, but not for birth control.
It would be right for Congress to move ahead with the impeachments of Bush and Cheney. History is going to nail them for what they are–unless we have to teach creationism of their behavior.
14. lin | 09.01.08
McBush appointed a female because he put his personal ambition first. He has put our economy, military, national security under threat by placing an inexperienced, creationism-believer, global-warming-denying, anti-choice even in the case of rape and incest, young woman with five children, the youngest a Downs Syndrom infant of five months old who needs his mother’s full attention a heartbeat away from the most powerful position in the world, and he is 72 years old and showing every sign of dementia. This is the most unpatriotic act one can think of, and every Republican should be insulted and terrified. No wonder so many Republican heavies are using Gustav as an excuse not to appear on the same platform with McSame, including the Bushies themselves.
15. Mark Bohannon | 09.01.08
Now, we hear McCain’s VP has a daughter that has been living in sin. This is some family let me tell ya! Sarah Palin chose to have a baby at her age knowing full well the risks of having a Down Syndrome baby after age 40. I have no pity for her or her husband, but I do have pity for the child being raised by ignorant parents!
17. Murdock | 09.01.08
Boy what a bunch of hypocrites you liberals are
The pull string in the middle of your back that when pulled recites the same liberal mantra. Have you no brain in your head? oh thats right you cannot think for yourselves, let the government do it for you.
To Mark Bohannon you liberals want to tell people when they can have a baby, at what age and how many they can have. Is that realy what you believe?
Thats kind hypocritical actually coming from a bunch of liberals who want the right to “pro choice” and no interference from the government or anyone regarding their rights. Typical liberal they want no intrusion in there decisions but want to dictate what others can do.
I have no pity for liberals, but I do have pity for the child being raised by ignorant liberal parents who brainwash there children to believe this liberal socialist tripe.
18. Bruce Lierman | 09.02.08
And here we are once again, distracted by whomever you choose to blame, from making a logical and rational decision about the next leader of the most militarily and economically powerful political entity on earth, by a mediocre hurricane in the gulf and the vote-getting impact of a week’s television coverage.
What is wrong with us?
There is only one real question we must answer; of the candidates nominatee, who represents the best leadership for the country for the next four years? Expressed more operationally, who has the clearest vision of what we need to accomplish as a government and populace in that time? Who will choose the best advisors in to serve the public interest? Who can best organize us and communicate with us to plan to meet these challenges and make us a more effective and respected nation?
The rest is trash. We need to throw it out, and criticize anyone or any organization that tried to bring it back in, wrapped in our own emotional baggage.
Please, let the election come quickly and spare us from this tawdry sideshow .
19. Kevin Pierce | 09.02.08
NEUTRAL DISASTER
NEWSWIRE–New Orleans missed the worst of hurricane Gustav, escaping the flooding caused in 2005 by Katrina.
In Gustav, FEMA saw a chance:
They’d demonstrate there’d been reform.
Now, critics have relaxed their stance,
In spite of qualms before the storm.
http://www.newsandverse.com
Light verse, ripped from the headlines
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1. Betty from New Jersey | 09.01.08
‘For the very first time I am going to put being an American ahead of being a Republican; as soon as I finish this last piece of birthday cake.’ - McSame and what’s her name?