One way to avoid competing with the Democratic convention is to basically cancel the Republican convention.
ST. PAUL —Senator John McCain said Sunday afternoon that Republicans would suspend most activities on the first day of their convention on Monday because of Hurricane Gustav.
Mr. McCain, speaking by satellite from St. Louis, also said he was optimistic that the mistakes of Katrina would not be repeated. And he called on his fellow Republicans to “take off our Republican hats and put on out American hats.”
On Monday, the Republican Party will conduct only its essential business of convening the convention, adopting its rules, electing its officers and adopting the party platform. Rick Davis, a top McCain aide, said the convention would only be convened from 3 p.m. Central time to about 5 or 5:30 p.m. The Republicans need a quorum on the floor to conduct their business.
Mr. Davis left open the possibility that Mr. McCain might not attend. He said the nominee is not required to attend, but since this convention is “the culmination of his political career,” he wants to be here but he “won’t do anything deemed inappropriate.”
Earlier in the day, President Bush said he would not attend the convention on Monday because of Gustav, and the White House spokeswoman, Dana M. Perino, said Vice President Dick Cheney also would not attend it.
I can’t imagine there will be much bounce for McCain out of a convention that is only half-hearted. I don’t disagree with their decision. But, it sure seems like McCain can’t catch a break.
I wonder if there are more than a few R’s that will use Gustav as a reason not to attend a convention that they didn’t really want to go to anyway!? And McSame will milk this for all the political juice he can get.
“I can’t imagine there will be much bounce for McCain out of a convention that is only half-hearted. I don’t disagree with their decision. But, it sure seems like McCain can’t catch a break.“
I hope you’re right, but it seems at least equally likely that he will achieve a significant gain by looking all noble and showing that he has the “right priorities” and stuff like that.
A bunch of the Rethugs were staying away before Gustav even formed .. so I am curious .. who exactly are the delegates to the RNC .. before you know it … the only ones there will be the Paulites
Maybe they will nominate Ron Paul. Wouldn’t that be a horse laugh on McCain!
Bush-Cheney caught it last time in 2005, and so now the Repubs are inheriting the wind.
I remember those pictures of Bush and McCain with a birthday cake in their hands, partying while New Orleans drowned…
According to the AP two weeks ago, the levees are not able to sustain a Cat 3-5, and there is still the same old corruption and mindset accompanying the rebuilding effort since.
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(NOLA.com) March 9, 2008 – Wagner and Herr said the cracking and separation of slope paving, particularly prevalent in eastern New Orleans, occurred primarily because of soil settlement.
“In hindsight, sure, some things could have been done differently,” Herr said of the 59 post-Katrina contracts that Task Force Guardian was ordered to execute by the 2006 hurricane season that opened June 1.
“But Guardian was designing in days instead of months,” he said. “We were going so fast, from one project to the other. In some of the earlier contracts, we used techniques that didn’t work well. But through trial and error, we learned what worked best.”
Herr said most of the repairs are being made to the earliest work done by the task force that, by design, was dissolved in mid-2006 after corps operations in New Orleans were reorganized and expanded to take over work on the 350-mile system.
Herr said the breakdowns in concrete work, such as concrete slabs pulling away from floodwalls or transition structures, didn’t start showing up until at least six months or so after the work on individual projects was finished. He said there was more ground settlement than had been anticipated.
Most often, the concrete was poured onto ground that had been built up to provide extra elevation along I-walls, the floodwall design now considered the least robust, and at transitions.
Transitions are the points at which floodwalls, floodgates, utility crossings or other hard structures meet earthen levees. Much of Task Force Guardian’s work focused on I-walls and transitions, which had proved so vulnerable during Katrina.
“We had slope paving that either pulled away from walls or cracked, just like driveways and sidewalks crack,” Herr said.
The separations had to be addressed so that neither rainfall nor storm surge could erode and potentially undermine a structure.
Terrestrial LIDAR Imagery of New Orleans Levees Affected by Hurricane Katrina [pdf]
On the canal’s western side, lesser repairs to walls and scoured areas behind walls should be finished by June 1 (2006), but the wall and levees on the west side won’t be raised to correct subsidence.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."Who chose Palin? Was she even vetted? The troops are furious as it emerges: via The Telegraph, UK
John McCain running mate Sarah Palin misled Republican supporters
In fact as I understand, they took the initial money and used most of it for design and planning. Once it became clear, because of the backlash, that there would be no more federal funding coming and the bridge would need to be finished with state funds, she decided to return the unused portion of the initial funding.
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ST. PAUL, Minn. (Politico) — President Bush will skip the Republican National Convention because of Hurricane Gustav and instead plans to address the nation on Monday night instead of his farewell speech to the party faithful.
The convention is being radically curtailed. Vice President Cheney will also stay in Washington, officials said. A third speaker scheduled for Monday, California Gov. Arnold Schwarenegger, will remain in the state to deal with a budget crisis.
The cancellations are a crushing disappointment for organizers who have spent more than a year planning the convention, and is a huge setback to a party that had hoped to use the convention to lift the spirits of supporters and reach out to swing voters.
The planned address by Bush is part of a scramble by the Republican Party, the White House and McCain campaign officials to retool the convention, which begins Monday in St. Paul.
First lady Laura Bush still plans to attend on Monday, the White House said.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."It appears the GOP is now anathema, even to its members. The rats abandon the sinking ship.
The Pukes will be making a big mistake if they don’t go through the standard extravaganza — the life story video followed by rousing campaign speech. It’s hooplah and bullshit, but it sells soap, and they need the advertisements. McCain’s general election campaign is proving to be as incompetent as his primary campaign. Let’s not forget that he is the candidate only because he was the last asshole standing. He imploded early, but never quite dropped out of the race, and when the other candidates imploded, he was still there to pick up the pieces. But it isn’t as if he actually ‘won’ anything against real opposition.
He is as fake a candidate as Bush was.
Bush and Cheney staying home I think is good for McCain. Easier for McCain to distance himself. Michael Moore’s comments aside I think Gustov was a Godsend for McCain. Cutting tonight to only 2.5 hour makes him look concerned and responsive, also a contrast to Bush. Only 2-3 hours were going to be on TV anyway.