Gustav shakes up McCain's Republican convention

By Steve Holland

ST. PAUL (Reuters) - Hurricane Gustav disrupted Republican John McCain's convention on Sunday -- President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney opted out of attending and Republicans considered shortening the event.

"There's very little doubt that we have to go from a party event to a call to the nation for action, " McCain told reporters after visiting a hurricane command center in Jackson, Miss. "I am directing program changes for beginning on Monday night's activities at our convention."

Bush, visiting the Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters in Washington, called the storm "very dangerous" and urged people in the storm zone to heed evacuation orders. He was headed to Texas to oversee the hurricane response.

McCain, who has been harshly critical of Bush's performance during the Katrina hurricane three years ago as a way of distancing himself from the unpopular president, moved quickly to survey emergency preparations.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was steering clear of making a visit at this point to avoid diverting resources away from the preparations and relief efforts. He declined to criticize McCain.

"I think that with a big storm like this raises bipartisan concerns and I think for John to want to find out what is going on is fine," Obama said in Lima, Ohio.

Obama said if Hurricane Gustav wreaks havoc on the Gulf, he would tap his e-mail network of 2 million donors to seek help for the storm victims.

Republicans were gathering in St. Paul for their four-day convention to formally nominate McCain as their candidate to face Obama in the November 4 election. McCain is scheduled to close their event on Thursday night.

In St. Paul, authorities said they had arrested six people on charges for planning to riot and damage property in several raids on Friday and Saturday.

Police said they found throwing knives, axes, buckets of urine, flammable liquids and a variety of equipment that could be used to block streets and disable vehicles in Minneapolis and West St. Paul.

The hurricane brewing in the Gulf of Mexico and apparently bearing down on New Orleans overshadowed the celebrations. Republican officials were working on making some changes to the convention, possibly shortening the event.

McCain said details of the changes would be released in the next few hours. "We will act as Americans, not as Republicans," he said.

Republican leaders, including McCain himself, say it would be unseemly to be seen celebrating while a natural disaster unfolds 1,100 miles away.

Republican governors from the affected area, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, were unable to attend the St. Paul party.

MCCAIN TO MISSISSIPPI