Gustav disrupts McCain's Republican convention

By Steve Holland

ST. PAUL (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 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 November 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.

NO MISTAKES

"I have every expectation that we will not see the mistakes of Katrina repeated. In fact I'm very optimistic that we will see a degree of cooperation and effort on behalf of any victims, of anyone whose lives are touched by this great natural disaster," McCain said after hearing about emergency preparations in New Orleans and along the Gulf coast.

McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, told reporters the convention would have an abbreviated schedule on Monday -- only those activities that were required -- and urged all Republican delegates attending the convention to avoid partisan rhetoric.

Davis left open the possibility that other activities the rest of the week could be canceled or curtailed, saying he could not speculate about what would happen in St. Paul beyond the minimal events being held on Monday.