Not only did Gustav slow Republican presidential hopeful John McCain’s big convention party, it also spared him from Democratic criticism that his election would amount to a third Bush term.
Convention organisers held a truncated business-only session on Monday and scrapped a planned speech by President George Bush, who visited Texas instead to oversee Hurricane Gustav relief effort.
The absence of the president, whose nationwide approval ratings hover at about 30%, did not deter a crowd of as many as 10 000 protesters who marched to the convention hall, chanting anti-war slogans and holding signs criticising Bush and the war in Iraq.
Police in riot gear used pepper spray and smoke bombs and arrested at least 130 demonstrators.
As Hurricane Gustav slammed the Gulf coast on Monday before being downgraded to a tropical storm, an unofficial bipartisan ceasefire prevailed, with most Republicans and Democrats pulling their punches while a major part of the country was being battered by the storm.
Several television news channels reported that Bush may address the convention remotely on Tuesday but the White House would not confirm the reports. According to the White House, Bush has no official engagements on Tuesday.
Normally, Republican speakers this week would be extolling the virtues of McCain and trying to define his Democratic rival Barack Obama as a liberal who would raise taxes.
Instead, the conclave in Minnesota has turned from politicking to raising money for Gustav victims, with US First Lady Laura Bush and McCain’s wife, Cindy, leading the charge.
Democrats arrived in St Paul looking to attack McCain just as the McCain team had lashed out at Obama all last week at Obama’s nominating convention in Denver. McCain is to be formally nominated by the Republicans on Wednesday as the party’s candidate to face Obama in the November 4 election.
The Democrats’ message is that McCain offers ”more of the same” as Bush, whose handling of the Katrina hurricane three years ago was widely criticised and contributed to his dismal approval rating.
Mixed blessing
One person scheduled to address the convention was independent Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who has been travelling the country with his Republican friend McCain.
”I’m not going to spend any time tonight attacking Senator Obama,” Lieberman told CNN. ”I’m going to talk really to people in the hall but, I hope, to independents and Democrats out across America about why I, as an independent Democrat, am voting for John McCain and hope they will too.”
While McCain is missing out on a chance to define Obama for the American people, he also is not having to endure criticism about appearances by Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney, both of whom cancelled trips to St Paul to speak.
As Gustav stole St Paul’s thunder, McCain’s vice-presidential running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, underwent new scrutiny and paid some dividends for McCain.
Palin’s surprise pick has injected some fresh energy into the McCain campaign, leading to larger crowds at his rallies. Since he made the announcement last Friday, his campaign has raised $10-million, contributing to an August tally of $47-million.
But Palin also is bringing controversy to the ticket.
She and her husband Todd announced on Monday that their unmarried 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, was pregnant, and said the news was being released to counter internet rumours that the Alaska governor’s five-month-old son was actually her daughter’s baby.
Republicans, however, rallied around Palin following the announcement and blamed liberal bloggers for creating a fuss.
”I just think she’s remarkable,” Cindy McCain told the Fox News channel. ”She truly is a great match for my husband.”
McCain spokesperson Nicolle Wallace criticised ”hateful” slurs and innuendoes in the liberal blogosphere.
”I think the private life of a 17-year-old child … is something that was being used as a political weapon by liberal bloggers and advocates of democratic and liberal causes,” she said on Tuesday on NBC’s Today show. – Reuters