ST. PAUL: John McCain ordered changes in the Republican National Convention that was to be a four-day celebration of his presidential nomination yesterday, to “redirect our efforts” to reflect the seriousness of Hurricane Gustav as it churned toward the Gulf Coast.
President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney opted out of attending and Republicans considered shortening the event.
“There’s very little doubt that we have to go from a party event to a call to the nation for action,” McCain told reporters after visiting a hurricane command center in Jackson, Miss.
“I am directing program changes for the Monday night’s activities at our convention.” “I pledge that tomorrow night, and if necessary throughout our convention, we will act as Ameri-cans, not as Republicans,” McCain told reporters.
Bush, visiting the Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters in Washington, called the storm “very dangerous” and urged people in the storm zone to heed evacuation orders.
He was headed to Texas to oversee the hurricane response. McCain, who has been harshly critical of Bush’s performance during the Katrina hurricane three years ago as a way of distancing himself from the unpopular president, moved quickly to survey emergency preparations.
By contrast, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said he would avoid visiting the area immediately because he did not want to divert resources away from the preparations and relief efforts. He declined to criticize McCain.
“I think that with a big storm like this raises bipartisan concerns and I think for John to want to find out what is going on is fine,” Obama said in Lima, Ohio.
Obama said if Hurricane Gustav wreaks havoc on the Gulf, he would tap his e-mail network of 2 million donors to seek help for the storm victims.
Republicans were gathering in St. Paul for their four-day convention to formally nominate McCain as their candidate to face Obama in the Nov. 4 election. McCain is scheduled to close their event on Thursday night. The hurricane brewing in the Gulf of Mexico and apparently bearing down on New Orleans overshadowed the celebrations.
Republican officials were working on making some changes to the convention, possibly shortening the event. McCain said details of the changes would be released in the next few hours.
“We will act as Americans, not as Republicans,” he said. “We will act as Americans, not as Republicans,” he said. Republican leaders, including McCain himself, say it would be unseemly to be seen celebrating while a natural disaster unfolds 1,700 km away.
Republican governors from the affected area, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, were unable to attend the St. Paul party.
