McCain eyes Gustav

McCain eyes Gustav as curtailed convention planned

By GLEN JOHNSON, Associated Press

ST. PAUL, Minn. - As anxious Republican delegates stood in wait, GOP presidential candidate John McCain and party officials kept a watchful eye on Hurricane Gustav Monday and weighed next steps for their shortened convention. McCain said defenses against Gustav were better than when Katrina slammed into New Orleans but still "not perfect."

President Bush, whose administration was widely accused of a botched handling of the Katrina disaster, traveled to Texas rather than to St. Paul, where he had been scheduled to speak on the opening night of the Republican National Convention. Bush planned visits to Austin and San Antonio to visit staging grounds for hurricane response efforts.

The convention remained in limbo on its first day. At McCain's behest, party leaders called off the usual festivities and planned only a truncated business meeting in the afternoon.

Gustav weakened somewhat to a Category 2 storm as it neared landfall along the mostly evacuated Louisiana coast. The National Hurricane Center said the storm, with 110-mph winds, should hit somewhere southwest of New Orleans by midday.

McCain, who visited Mississippi on Sunday, said that while there is now better coordination among federal, state and local authorities, there are still problems.

"There's still, I think, not as much communications equipment as we want. There's still not enough search-and-rescue capabilities, although they're trying to fix that. It's not perfect, but I think that it's dramatically different than it was in response to Katrina," McCain said in an interview broadcast on NBC's "Today" show. The interview was taped on Sunday. / McCain's wife, Cindy, and his new running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, arrived in the convention city Sunday night.

First lady Laura Bush, who had also been scheduled to address the convention's opening session, said the government response to Hurricane Katrina "is going to be a lot better" than it was three years ago for Katrina.

"Lessons learned from Katrina have served the United States very well," she told CNN. She said those lessons extend to other emergencies as well, not just hurricanes.

Mrs. Bush planned to spend the opening day of the convention meeting delegates informally.

"I know they're disappointed they're not going to get to have the program tonight, but everyone understands it, everyone is thinking about everybody all across the Gulf Coast," she told "The Early Show" on CBS. "All their eyes are on the Gulf Coast and everyone is thinking about that."
Party officials were attempting to refocus convention efforts, at least in part, toward raising funds for relief efforts.

The Ohio delegation, for instance, held a riverboat cruise on the Mississippi Sunday night as planned, but turned the event into a relief fundraiser. Kevin DeWine, deputy GOP chairman for Ohio, said some $20,000 was raised.

Concerned about negative images of partying delegates while Gulf Coast residents suffer, the Republican National Committee and the McCain campaign were trying to police activities on the convention sidelines.

That included a warning to Louisiana delegates against traditional alcohol-laced "hurricane parties" — following reports of a late-night celebration on Sunday ahead of the storm's landfall on Monday.

The GOP also is overseeing an effort by the American Red Cross and the Minneapolis-based Target department store chain to assemble comfort packs for Gulf Coast residents at the Minneapolis convention center on Monday.

Republican National Committee Chairman Robert "Mike" Duncan said on Sunday that certain legal requirements had to be met despite the decision to truncate the convention in order to legally place McCain and running mate Sarah Palin's names in nomination.

He said the convention would meet on Monday to establish a quorum, adopt convention rules, elect officers and approve the party platform.

McCain saw his own pre-convention tactics blunted by public focus on the huge storm. He urged delegates to take off their "Republican hats" and put on "American hats," shifting their organizing and fundraising power from party politics to the needs of the evacuees.

"I know you'll agree with me," he said Sunday. "It's time to open our hearts, our efforts and our wallets, our concern, our care, for those American citizens who are now under the shadow and the possibility of a natural disaster."

Protesters planned to go forward with a peace march that had been expected to draw 50,000 people to the state capital.

"Our voices will be front and center, and it will be the main news that is happening," said Jess Sundin, spokeswoman for the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War.

Mindful that Bush and the Republican Party lost credibility after the federal government's flawed response to Hurricane Katrina three years ago, McCain and Palin visited Mississippi on Sunday ahead of the storm and promised swift recovery efforts.

The Arizona senator said the remainder of the convention schedule would be driven by storm developments. He raised the possibility of accepting the nomination on Thursday in a Gulf Coast speech beamed back to the delegates 1,000 miles to the north.

Democratic nominee Barack Obama received a briefing Sunday from Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. The Illinois senator, who has smashed all fundraising records during his presidential campaign, also pledged to use his vast supporter e-mail list to raise money and provide goods for those affected by the storm.

He also said he might visit storm-damaged areas once things have "settled down."