Robin Meade Blog

News Correspondent Richard Lui

The Republican National Convention’s first day of activities were drastically truncated. Senator John McCain addressed reporters on Sunday, telling the nation: it would be unconscionable to continue with an event with hats and celebrations as the country dealt with a Category 2 hurricane bearing down on the Gulf Coast.

Laura Bush and Cindy McCain stood in for their husbands at the RNC.

McCain did not want partisan politicking to go on. Instead, he said he wanted to focus on acting as Americans, not Republicans or Democrats. McCain made the decision in light of criticisms that were aimed at the Bush administration for its handling of Hurricane Katrina three years ago. More than 1,800 people died in Katrina, and survivors dealt with third-world living conditions in the Superdome. McCain promised that, under his watch, he would not allow such a catastrophe to happen.

Gustav could help McCain

Supporters of McCain’s decision to suspend many RNC activities say it was a good move and showed McCain has good decision-making skills, perhaps even making him appear presidential in the process. It also allowed McCain to further distance himself from an unpopular GOP administration, after President Bush’s and Vice President Cheney’s speeches were canceled Monday. Some might say McCain dodged a bullet, and dodged potential criticism from the Democrats, who may used the Bush and Cheney speeches to associate McCain with Bush policies. And as Gustav recovery begins, McCain might be seen in interviews restating his clear commitment to his decisions, and perhaps drawing more contrast to the Bush’s handling of Katrina in 2005.

Gustav may have taken the focus off of the news that the 17-year-old daughter of McCain’s VP pick is pregnant. Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s daughter is about five months pregnant, according to a campaign aide. With Gustav making the headlines on all the networks and papers, this political angle got page two.

Gustav could hurt McCain

On the flip side, Gustav has shortened the GOP’s major public relations event. The Republican National Convention would have focused on deriding Senator Obama’s fitness to be leader of the United States. Four days of speech after speech tearing down the Obama candidacy has now been shortened, and most likely now in a space where being bitterly partisan could appear unsavory.

As Steve Kornaki points out in the New York Observer, the RNC was one reason why the GOP was able to change the tide against Senator John Kerry four years ago. Kornaki says the polls were not favoring President Bush at the time. But, after Republicans labeled Kerry “indecisive” day in and day out at the convention, Bush came out on top in the end.

Then there is the post convention bounce, where the polls show a general up swell for a given party’s ticket after the convention. Obama/Biden has not seen that as of yet, but historically, that is not the norm. McCain/Palin won’t have a genuine opportunity to test that out, because Gustav cut their convention plans short.