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Storms Could Overshadow McCain's Pitch

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By WILLIAM MARCH and BILLY HOUSE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 31, 2008

Updated: 08/31/2008 12:23 am

MINNEAPOLIS - Terrible luck involving two storms, particularly Hurricane Gustav, threatens to distract America from a Republican National Convention in which John McCain hopes to convince voters he's the one ready to lead the nation.

Even without weather issues, McCain faced some distractions in making his pitch to the nation.

First, he must accommodate a goodbye to an unpopular president as part of festivities intended to cement his own relationship with voters.

Second, just as the Democrats had to deal with divisiveness between supporters of Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama in Denver last week, McCain - with his newly announced vice presidential pick, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin - must try to unite the conservative and moderate sides of his party and answer questions about how his stances on some crucial issues differ from the Republican Party platform.

But as Republicans fly into Minneapolis from across the nation, Hurricane Gustav is bearing down on New Orleans, in an unfortunate reminder of the Bush administration's response, widely perceived as a failure, to Hurricane Katrina's devastation there.

To make things worse, the convention is beginning on the third anniversary weekend of Katrina's Aug. 29, 2005, landfall.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Hanna is moving west and has the potential to hit southern Florida as a hurricane just as the convention is ending.

The storms are affecting big and small aspects of the convention.

Crist Scheduled To Speak Thursday

There's speculation that Gustav could prevent Bush's planned appearance Monday night for a tribute to the outgoing president, although the White House has not announced any change in Bush's plans. Or the storms could dampen the spirits of the Florida delegation, which plans a tropical beach party with Hawaiian shirts Monday night.

Gov. Charlie Crist, expected to speak along with Sen. Mel Martinez on the big, final night of the convention Thursday, will delay his arrival until at least Tuesday - or depending on the situation in Florida, he may not show up at all.

Florida Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer has been named one of a committee of six individuals from Florida, Louisiana, Texas and the McCain campaign that will monitor the weather situation daily and suggest appropriate changes to convention plans.

"Everything is being considered, but at the present time there is no change to the schedule," he said Saturday. But schedule changes "are on the table. You may see a reduction in some of the events."

University of South Florida political scientist Darryl Paulson, an active Republican, called the storms "kind of a double whammy."

First, he said, they will distract the nation's attention from the convention and the message McCain hopes to convey.

Second, they will remind the voters of Hurricane Katrina - "as devastating an incident as anything for the Bush administration," he said. "Anything that refocuses attention away from McCain and back to Bush is not good for McCain."

There already are indications that media attention to the Republican event may be less than was paid to the Democratic convention in Denver.

For example, the Miami NBC affiliate station, which sent a crew to Denver, isn't sending one to St. Paul, which one GOP press operative called "frustrating and unfair."

But Greer said the Republicans will soldier on and make the best of the situation. "This is not going to be a repeat of Katrina - those states are very prepared," he said.

He said the party has to go through the legal and procedural process of nominating its candidate and doing other party business, which makes it impossible to cancel or even shorten the convention. Logistically, it would be virtually impossible to reschedule a meeting of this size.

But, Greer said, the public will see the party "giving consideration to the events that are taking place. People will see that the Republican Party and those governors are focused on serving the citizens in those states."

State Delegates Get Prime Seating

Greer has been battling some of the party hierarchy to restore what Floridians consider their rightful role of importance in the convention.

The state's Jan. 29 primary, which violated the scheduling rules of both parties because it was too early, resulted in sanctions by both parties. In pre-convention meetings, Greer said, he has argued successfully that the Florida delegation, cut in half by the sanctions, be fully restored.

Florida delegates also will have prime seating on the floor of the convention, very near the center front - a sign of the state's political prominence.

"Believe me, they didn't want to do that," Greer said.

But it's hard to imagine the Republicans would do any less, after the prominent role Floridians played in Denver at the Democratic convention, which granted the Florida delegation front-and-center seating and included a parade of Floridians who spoke from the podium.

In addition to Martinez and Crist, U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam also will speak at the Republican convention, and possibly other Floridians as well.

McCain has repeatedly summed up the theme of his convention with one line: "I'm prepared to be president of the United States, and I'll put my country first."

But McCain is sure to be asked during the convention about his disagreements with the GOP platform on issues including immigration, stem-cell research, climate change and gay marriage:

•The platform's section on immigration has been revised to include far tougher language than in 2004, which mirrored Bush's philosophy - similar to McCain's legislation that allowed a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.

McCain has recanted that approach, saying he wouldn't vote for the bill he proposed.

The new platform, not yet officially approved, calls for a border fence and English as the official language; calls immigration "a national security issue" and emphasizes deportation and law enforcement; opposes "amnesty" and driver's licenses, in-state tuition rates, Social Security and other government benefits for illegal immigrants.

•The platform acknowledges "the challenge of climate change," but says the solution is "technology and the market." It warns "against the doomsday climate change scenarios peddled by the aficionados of centralized command-and-control government."

It does not include a specific endorsement of McCain's proposal for a system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

•McCain supports federal funding for research involving embryonic stem cells, but the platform calls for "a ban on the creation of or experimentation on human embryos for research purposes."

•The platform calls for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, while McCain takes the position that states should decide the issue.

Reporter William March can be reached at (813) 259-7761 or wmarch@tampatrib.com. Reporter Billy House can be reached at (202) 662-7673 or bhouse@tampatrib.com.

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