It is certainly a study in contrasts. The tale of the first city – Denver. An urban zone overrun with DNC devotees filled with high hopes, celebrations, pomp, circumstance, and over sized flashy sets… all which did well to dress up the familiar and repeated rhethoric we hear every four years.
They had the media dream… 24/7 coverage, breathless journalists a’twitter with every speech, and the illusion of party unity by the end. Campaign staffers were hoping for that 5-10 point convention bump, feeling sure that the GOP could never top their carefully planned spectacle. They ended with congratulatory pats on the back. A job well done.
And then, along came Sarah Palin, and Hurricane Gustav. Obama-Biden took Palin in stride, adopting the high road approach. They let their base do the dirty work… set to work spreading whatever appeared like possible dirt that they could find.
But Hurricane Gustav elicted a different response from the DNC base. Tho it was known last week that the storm would hit the Gulf coast, Gustav was not a subject of discussion that week.
But ignoring it’s impending path was better than what followed. Michael Moore and former DNC chair Dan Fouler…. er, Fowler… both make similar comments that God must be on the side of the DNC to have the hurricane strike conveniently on the first day of the GOP convention. The same bizarre and morbid view was echoed by a few posters on Flopping Aces, as well on other sites.
Despite their crude and questionable glee at tragedy benefitting their party as a gift from God, it was most obvious they were celebrating the reality that the media would be wall to wall coverage of the national disaster, leaving the GOP convention an “also ran” for news at best.
Which brings us to the second city tale – St. Paul. The President, Veep and GOP wasted no time in scaling down the long planned party, prioritizing preparations for human tragedy over celebrations. Just like Mayor Nagin learned his lesson by not only ordering residents out, but supplying them with transport to do so, so had everyone else.
The GOP convention website was revamped as an info site for both delegates and for relief aid – including a new banner and theme: “Hurricane Gustav: How You Can Help.”
On Sunday, McCain and Palin flew to Mississippi, where they toured an emergency preparation center. McCain also made a chartered jet available to delegates from the threatened areas who wanted to return home to be with their families.
NPR documents the many other last minutes changes, as the GOP, without a complaint, altered the entire theme of their convention.
Republicans hurried to turn the opening day of their national convention into a fundraising drive for hurricane victims, with presidential candidate John McCain’s wife and first lady Laura Bush appealing for Gulf Coast help. McCain visited a disaster relief center in Ohio.
Townhall’s Amanda Carpenter’s story today details the plans to use party organizers as packagers of more than 80,000 relief care packages.
Davis said the center would “open first thing Wednesday to accommodate volunteers to help pack” packages which would contain essentials like toothpaste, toothbrushes and snacks. State party delegations are currently being scheduled in shifts to assemble the packages as well.
Fundraising efforts to “charities identified in the Gulf States” by the Governors’ offices in each of the five affected states are being coordinated as well. Davis also said they would be soliciting the delegations, corporations and other organizations in the Twin Cities to help drive dollars to those states. He refrained from stating any explicit fundraising goals or saying whether or not their Democratic presidential opponent, Barack Obama, should tap his fundraising network to send money to the Gulf States.
“We don’t want to make a contest out of this,” he said.
Per Fox News just now, the McCains have donated $25,000 to the relief effort, giving the fundraising a kickoff.
The first days speeches have been cancelled. It’s still debatable whether McCain will accept the nomination in person, or via video conference from the hurricane affected areas.
Bush and Cheney both cancelled their appearances. Laura Bush is in St. Paul as their presence, but has cancelled her speech as well.
President Bush, whose administration was widely accused of a botched handling of the Katrina disaster three years ago, 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. There was no word on whether he would address the convention at some point by satellite.
~~~In Waterville, Ohio, McCain visited a disaster relief center, and helped pack cleaning supplies and other items into plastic buckets that will be sent to the Gulf Coast area.
Linda Green, who runs the center, thanked McCain for directing Republicans to avoid “hoopla” at the convention and respecting the needs of storm victims instead.
As McCain said:
“Ahead of time, I want to thank all my fellow Republicans as we take off our Republican hats and put on our American hats, and we say, ‘America, we’re with you. America, we’re going to care for these people in their time of need.'”
The Obama camp called off some of their campaign festivities, with BHO returning to Chicago. He had called FEMA head, Michael Chertoff, to ask about the preparations. Per the the Political Radar, the ABC news blog
“We are deeply concerned,” Obama told ABC News’ Ann Compton at the Yankee Kitchen family restaurant in Boardman, Ohio. “I’ve instructed my senate staff to monitor the situation closely. Make sure we’ve contacted both FEMA but also private relief organizations just to make sure that whatever happens people are prepared.”
Obama said that they would continue to monitor the storm and would keep Louisiana residents in their minds. “Obviously we’re going to be each day seeing what happens and we’re praying for New Orleans but we want to make sure that people are making all the necessary precautions.” Obama added that he hoped people had learned from Hurricane Katrina that evacuation is key.
He also planned to tap his donor base for contributions.
“We can activate an email list of a couple million people who want to give back,” Obama told reporters after attending church in Lima, Ohio.
“I think we can get tons of volunteers to travel down there if it becomes necessary.”
As leadership, both political parties are setting an example of how and when to drop the axe grinding. Already some of the media, and no doubt more than many a blogger, will be quick with the accusations – suggesting the GOP convention efforts are nothing more than a political stunt.
One would hope they would see the folly in engaging is such nonsense. The idea the GOP is a heartless, uncaring party can only go so far with Americans. But to those that will, inevitably take that tact, I have to ask in return… just what did you do with your hefty budget at your party convention, when you knew … in advance… Gustav would hit the Gulf coast?
Since the answer would be, of course, nothing… we can all hope everyone will drop the axe and sniping now. It’s a time for Americans to take care of our own by choice (not mandate) – as the generous nation we have always been.
But all in all… given the choice of attending either of these conventions, I’ll take the latter. In fact, I wish all these conventions would emphasize some worthwhile cause instead of a party rah rah spendfest. Think of how much money could be redirected to a charity were they scaled down and run as benefits instead? I would think that, like the Jerry Lewis Telethon, it would make them all the more entertaining and interesting to all of us. And perhaps make the politicians promises more believable.
So I’m proud the GOP used this as an opportunity to not only be active on relief packages and donations, but to also drop the partisan squabbles as we become Americans, united for our own, for a few moments. I’m most especially curious to hear Skye and Stix’s reports from St. Paul – our FA eyes on the ground – of the relief efforts and mood in the remaining convention attendees.
Vietnam era Navy wife, indy/conservative, and an official California escapee now residing as a red speck in the sea of Oregon blue.
the libs wanted a bigger bounce, they didn’t get what they wanted so they are attacking and being nasty. they really are sick if they think a hurricane will destroy the convention. we don’t need rock stars and celebs to tell us how to vote, we vote our conscience and for whats best for the country. what a bunch of morons. just saw the gulf coast govs speaking to the convention via sat., they were great and stressed the unity in the gop. the applause that laura bush got went on forever, she was well recieved. the gop will get their bounce.
Majority parties become minorities, politics which was once competitive becomes noncompetitive or, alternatively, hitherto one-party areas now become arenas of intense partisan competition.