Some are arguing that anything the RNC does to help Hurricane victims at this point will be a helpless ploy for votes. Could be, but if Dems want to use Katrina for their own political maneuvering, then why can’t Republicans use the current incoming disaster to right those past wrongs?
Now here would be my plan, if I was RNC chair: Have all the RNC top people making emergency kits, boxing supplies and collecting donations door to door. Make any one who wants to attend the convention donate some time. The topper…tell the media if they want in for photo’s, video, etc., they need to donate at least 2 hours a person themselves.
August 31st, 2008 at 10:53 am
That is not using a hurricane as a political stunt: Is there anything people expect the government to show responsiveness to on a greater scale than a disaster?
August 31st, 2008 at 11:04 am
2. Well if we were talking about ?Bush and the administration you would have a point, but the RNC isn’t the government, but a political party.
August 31st, 2008 at 11:20 am
It already is being used politically. Bush and Cheney are not going to the convention.
August 31st, 2008 at 11:25 am
JB, ignore such a disaster and you’re out of touch and indifferent; try to respond constructively and you’re cynically exploiting people’s misery for political gain. Pick your poison.
August 31st, 2008 at 11:36 am
The HC has moved faster than expected.
August 31st, 2008 at 11:41 am
Yep MarkG, you got it. Pick your own poison.
August 31st, 2008 at 11:44 am
We might not have to worry. The latest it will now hit land is early morning and it is downgraded to a level 3.
August 31st, 2008 at 11:47 am
Bush, Cheney to skip GOP convention, because of Gustav
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-bush1-2008sep01,0,3759975,print.story
August 31st, 2008 at 11:49 am
The RNC cannot cancel the convention as it would incovenience 100,000+ people (delegates, press, city police, plus everyone else in St. Paul). This could be a stroke of genious, or a disaster. Either way, like McCain’s pick of Palin, it makes for must see TV. Imagine everyone who will be tuning in to see Palin’s acceptance speech. I am sure it will be a stunner and will rival Obama’s speech in numbers.
August 31st, 2008 at 11:57 am
Carl Cameron has just reported on Fox News that in an hour or 2 the RNC will release a DRAMATIC change in the scheldule of the Convention……This should be interesting.
August 31st, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Gallup is down to 6 (RV), and I look forward to seeing the polling tomorrow after the Thursday polling is gone.
August 31st, 2008 at 12:03 pm
This is quite a test for everyone. The convention won’t be postponed, but will have to be revamped. Not only are Bush and Cheney skipping but so are Jindal, Rick Perry and a number of congresspersons. And those who are still speaking have to now reach out to people in the storm’s path and probably avoid sounding too negative.
This also complicates Palin’s introduction to the rest of the country. We know who she is, but most people don’t. I was watching the Golf Channel and a commentator said Ryder Cup picks have been kept as secret as Obama and McCain’s VP picks. Then another commentator said, “Sarah who?” That tells me there is work to be done.
August 31st, 2008 at 12:23 pm
I would be overjoyed if the RNC told the “media if they want in for photo’s, video, etc., they need to donate at least 2 hours a person themselves.”
JFK said:
“Ask not what your country can do for you–ask what you can do for your country.”
But if the RNC did a service project, then the RNC could one-up JFK by saying, “Don’t ask how you can serve your country…just do it and help us do it!”
August 31st, 2008 at 12:32 pm
It would be great to put “country first” Monday and Tuesday” and stick with the traditional speeches Wed and Thursday.
August 31st, 2008 at 12:39 pm
#13 Daniel, excellent. It seems to me that Kennedy borrowed that phrase from an earlier President, heard something about it when Obama was borrowing his speeches from someone else.
August 31st, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Let’s be honest…this is a big case of bad timing for the RNC and I have to assume that no matter what the President or the Republicans do it will be compared to Katrina, even if they do a great job with the relief and the McCain camp turns this into some type of charity event it will still be compared to Katrina and the questions will arise…why not then? Then answers from the pundits and the MSM will inevitably be the Republicans and McCain are politicizing a natural disaster. A postponement or cancellation would be a better route to take.
August 31st, 2008 at 1:12 pm
In terms of classy things, has anyone else heard about how the left is claiming that the baby is not Sarah Palin’s — it is supposedly her teenage daughter’s baby and Palin pulled a cover-up. Right.
And, in addition, now the claim is that Palin did not take proper pre-natal care of the baby (though I guess that’s an improvement in that they acknowledge that it was her baby).
http://wizbangblog.com/content/2008/08/31/you-stay-classy-alan-colmes.php
August 31st, 2008 at 1:23 pm
It’s best not to even repeat the accusations but the stuff that DailyKos is coming out with recently is nothing short of disgusting. I’ve not got to much problem with negative campaigning generally, but this Palin baby thing (I suspect Kos are getting close to criminal libel) along with the gloating over the hurricane disrupting the convention is pathetic.
On the positive side, it shows quite how riled the left are with the choice of VP. The old adage that you should do what your opponents least want you to do is most evident here…
August 31st, 2008 at 1:41 pm
The Democrats will politicize the hurricane no matter what the Republicans do, so there is no way of getting around it. Check out Drudge to see how they are already claiming God is attacking the Republicans. As far as the left wing blogs, they are filled with hate and they will only allow those who agree with them to post on their sites. I wish the whole country could be exposed to these sites to better understand who will be in power if Obama is elected. It is hard to understand how anyone can be filled with so much hatred.
August 31st, 2008 at 3:16 pm
PACon, you definetly hit that one out of the park. Liberal Blogs including ones that I also get insight into the condition of the nation, (EX: Alternet-Mix is the message’) are so filled with hyporcicsy. One article may call abortion an evil yet another one calls Bikini car washes the scourage of the ages.