WRAPUP 6-Gustav disrupts McCain's Republican convention

* Bush, Cheney to miss Republican convention

* Most convention work suspended for Monday

* Gustav heads for New Orleans, Gulf oil fields

* McCain may address Republicans from Gulf area

By Steve Holland

ST. PAUL, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Republican John McCain on Sunday ordered political speeches canceled for his Republican nominating convention on Monday to avoid a festive atmosphere while Americans cope with Hurricane Gustav.

McCain and other Republicans moved quickly to try to avoid a repeat of 2005 when President George W. Bush was seen as out of touch as Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans.

"Of course this is a time when we have to do away with most of our party politics," said McCain, who has been harshly critical of Bush's performance during Katrina.

Republican leaders, including McCain himself, say it would be unseemly to be seen celebrating while a natural disaster unfolded on the Gulf coast 1,100 miles (1,700 kms) away. Organizers said they would plan day to day based on the impact of the hurricane.

McCain, speaking by video hookup from St. Louis after visiting an emergency command center in Jackson, Mississippi, said it was time that "we take off our Republican hats and put on our American hats and say 'America, we're with you.'"

Republicans were in St. Paul for their four-day convention to formally nominate McCain as their candidate to face Democrat Barack Obama in the Nov. 4 election.

Whether McCain himself would appear in St. Paul, Minnesota, was up in the air. McCain was scheduled to close the convention with his nomination acceptance speech on Thursday.

He told NBC News it was possible that he would deliver his acceptance speech by satellite from the Gulf region, saying "all possibilities and all scenarios" were open.

Bush himself was intent on showing his concern about the impact of Gustav as well.

He and Vice President Dick Cheney both canceled visits to St. Paul for the convention. Both had been scheduled to speak on Monday. The White House said Bush might address the convention in some way later in the week.

Visiting the Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters in Washington, Bush 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.