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Sunday, August 31, 2008
Republicans grapple with Gustav
MINNEAPOLIS - Ohio Republicans who came to town for the Republican National Convention found themselves dealing with the specter of a hurricane that may yet devastate New Orleans not three years after the Bush administration was criticized for not wisely handling Hurricane Katrina.
A paddleboat cruise on the Mississippi River hosted by Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, became an impromptu fundraiser for those who will be flooded if the hurricane hits land. Fran DeWine, the wife of former U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, thought up the idea as the DeWine family drove from their Greene County home to the convention.
The DeWines gave $1,000 and passed out pledge cards for other Republican delegates. The sponsors of the Voinovich event - First Energy, the American Chemistry Council, Abbott and Forest City Enterprises - promised to match whatever Republican delegates raised.
Republicans also planned for a modified schedule Monday, meeting from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m., rather than well into the night. The modified schedule was aimed at accommodating some of the party business that must be done to nominate Sen. John McCain.
A planned reception in honor of State Auditor Mary Taylor was bumped up to 6 to 8 p.m. Monday.
Officials said they planned on modifying the rest of the week’s schedule according to what happened after the storm hit land.
“There is absolutely nothing we can control about this except our response,” said Ohio Republican Party Deputy Chair Kevin DeWine. He said the party would pray for the victims of the storm and raise money for those victims. He said scaling back the usually festive atmosphere at the convention was “the appropriate thing to do.”
Earlier in the day, House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-West Chester, admitted it would be “hard to discuss message of the convention and the message of the fall campaign given what we’re dealing with.”
“You’ll see a commitment on the part of the convention and all our delegates, alternatives and friends to take part in public service,” he said. “A part of that will be a significant fundraising drive to help those charities that are currently going to be stretched as a result of this impending disaster.”
Delegates said such a response was preferable to canceling the whole party outright.
“What we are doing here could be the future of the United States,” said John C. Willke, a Cincinnati honorary delegate and president of the International Right to Life Federation. “You don’t suddenly cancel it outright.”
Centerville Mayor Mark Kingseed, a delegate, said delegates can help raise money first and then look at organizing resources for hurricane victims next.
“Obviously, it was hideously mismanaged three years ago. We owe it to ourselves and to those there that we’re prepared to help them,” Kingseed said. - Jessica Wehrman, Scott Shepard of Cox Newspapers contributing.
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Ohio delegates begin to pitch in
Ohio Republican delegates will begin raising money for hurricane victims while cruising the Mississippi River on a paddle boat with U.S. Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, on Sunday evening.
“We’re going to try to turn this into a positive,” said Fran DeWine, a delegate from Cedarville and wife of former U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine. Pledge cards will be printed up and checks for the American Red Cross will be accepted.
Delegate Tom Moe of Fairfield County said, “We’re going to help these people out. We got a lot to celebrate but we’ll celebrate in a different way.”
The 170-member delegation will meet for breakfast Monday morning, though most of the official convention events have been scaled back or canceled. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is scheduled to be the breakfast speaker.
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GOP convention disrupted by Gustav
ST. PAUL — Hurricane Gustav has yet to hit New Orleans, but it has already wreaked havoc here at the headwaters of the Mississippi River where the Republican National Convention is set to get under way Monday.
Presumptive GOP presidential nominee John McCain informed a packed hall of reporters at 3 p.m. Sunday via satellite that while the convention will convene as scheduled, it will be stripped down to business essentials with no political rhetoric.
President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney announced earlier Sunday they were cancelling plans to address the quadrennial gathering on Monday.
Speaking to reporters from St. Louis, McCain said “we’re going to suspend most of our … activities tomorrow.
“It’s time to take off our Republican hats and put on our American hats.”
Campaign manager Rick Davis said the convention will open at 3 p.m. Monday in “abbreviated fashion.” The party platform will be adopted and various other housekeeping measures will be attended to.
“Tomorrow’s program will be business only,” he said. Davis said he expects the convention to conclude in less than three hours.
What will happen for the balance of the convention is up in the air.
The Ohio delegation will convene as planned for its daily breakfast meeting on Monday, but what happens after that has yet to be determined, according to a delegation sponesman.
“I hope and pray,” McCain said, “we will be able to resume our normal operation but, frankly, some of that is in the hands of God.”
Jeff Bruce is the journalist in residence at Wright State University. You can reach him at jeff@jeffbruce.net.
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Obama pledges volunteer help for Gustav
Democrat Barack Obama is ready to activate his volunteers to help out if Hurricane Gustav wreaks damage when it strikes the Gulf Coast.
“…it becomes a question of what people on the ground need and once we determine that then we can activate our e-mail list of a couple of million people who want to give back,” Obama told reporters on Sunday, Aug. 31 in Lima.
First, Obama said he wants to find out what is going on and make sure not to solicit canned goods that aren’t needed or water that’s already available.
He said that he’d also tap into his contributors for financial help if the hurricane strikes.
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Obama worships at Lima Lutheran church
Democrat Barack Obama’s first stop on the campaign trail on Sunday, Aug. 31, was at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in downtown Lima in heavily Republican Allen County.
Obama attended the hour and a half worship service, taking communion and participated in the passing of the peace with members of the mostly white congregation. He sat near the front of the church at the 10 a.m. service.
While the congregation clapped hands during the closing hymn - “We are Marching in the Light of God” -, the service was quieter than those at the United Church of Christ church that Obama attended in Chicago before breaking with the church’s former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright over racially inflammatory remarks that Wright made.
Members of the congregation were star-struck. Many didn’t know he was coming.
“It is exciting,” said Linda Mann, a retired school teacher. Obama “did real well,” she said. A Democrat, Mann said she supported Obama.
Curt Klinger and his wife Stacey and their two young children, Isabella, 1, and Geddes. 3, came to the service from nearby Ada and when they arrived “we just wondered why all the cameras” were there.
Klinger said he and his wife are independents and haven’t decided who to support for president.
“I enjoy listening to him speak,” said Klinger. “I wonder how much Washington, D.C” will keep him from changing things.
A crowd waiting outside the church chanted “yes, we can” as Obama exited and then worked the rope line.
Pastor Lars Olson said he had a visit Friday from people scouting out different churchs for a possible Obama visit but didn’t get the call that Obama was coming until 8:30 a.m., just an hour and a half before the service. He thought about changing his sermon - emphasizing Jesus’ teaching in Matthew that “those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”
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Gustav disrupts GOP convention plans
MINNEAPOLIS - Here at the headwaters of the Mississippi River, all eyes are turned south as Hurricane Gustav bears down on New Orleans where the river eventually pours into the Gulf of Mexico.
Convention planners are preparing for major alterations to the agenda, fearing that if the Crescent City suffers another Katrina, it would be bad PR for the Republicans to be seen partying as usual at their annual nominating convention.
The lineup of speakers has already been shreded. Sunday morning, the White House announced that President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have cancelled plans to attend the convention. They had been scheduled to speak on Monday, the opening day of the scheduled four-day gathering.
Further announcements are expected today, including the possibility that the convention will be truncated.
It was just over three years ago (Aug. 29, 2005) that Katrina, a Level 3 hurricane, slammed into the Gulf Coast, breaching New Orleans’ protective levees and drowning the city.
