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One of Hurricane Gustav's biggest casualties may have been disrupting the opening day of the Republican National Convention taking place a thousand miles up the Mississippi River.
The headline speaker today was supposed to be President Bush, complete with what undoubtedly would have been a rousing reception from thousands of Republican delegates. Instead, delegates heard a very short and subdued message from the first lady. "I'm so happy to be here in Minneapolis-St. Paul at the Republican convention while we nominate Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin to be our next president and vice president," Laura Bush said.
That was as political as it got and was in keeping with the low-key opener ordered yesterday by Republican nominee John McCain. Mrs. Bush spent most of her brief speech on an appeal for delegates to help hurricane victims.
The convention opened with a prayer by a famous Utahn. Former Jazz basketball player Thurl Bailey offered the invocation and prayed for hurricane victims. Bailey is not a delegate. His wife told us he was chosen because he fits an image convention organizers were looking for.
The image of a pregnant teenager competed with the scripted campaign messages today. And that disclosure from the McCain campaign overshadowed anything that happened in the convention hall. The campaign confirmed that running mate Sarah Palin's 17-year-old unmarried daughter is pregnant. The Palin family says she plans to keep the child and marry the father. Barack Obama dismissed the news as irrelevant.
Then came news that Palin has hired an attorney to represent her in an investigation by the Alaska state legislature. It's looking at a possible conflict of interest in Palin's dismissal of a state official who refused to fire a trooper who had divorced the governor's sister. That's all new information about the vice-presidential pick most Americans had never heard of four days ago. And it's all the more reason Utah delegates want to see their ticket get out from under the microscope and have a chance to bask in the spotlight.
Tomorrow, Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman is scheduled to address the convention. He admits he was surprised at McCain's running-mate pick. But he says he knows Gov. Palin well. Huntsman says the pick will enhance questions about energy policy, which he sees as a major campaign issue.
"One thing I think she brings to the ticket which will be very, very important is energy. I really feel this election in the end is going to turn on energy policy. John McCain has one and Sarah Palin will enhance that. I believe that will turn the election in the end, when it's all said and done," Huntsman said.
Utah's Republicans have been very strong Mitt Romney supporters. Today, Romney told those Utahns that if they really want to support him, they now need to put their support behind John McCain. Romney greeted the delegates at their breakfast today. While he appreciates continued support from Utahns, Romney says it's time to fight for the things Republicans believe in, and that means backing the McCain-Palin ticket.
"So it is not at all a leap for me to get behind the McCain-Palin team. I support that team because I'm very much behind the principles and views and vision that we share for our country," Romney said.
Delegates also had the victims of Hurricane Gustav on their minds during all this political business. The designated theme of the convention today was service. And John McCain led the chorus even though he's not yet in Minnesota. McCain was in Ohio, but his wife was at the convention. Cindy McCain made a short speech calling for donations to hurricane victims.
Following McCain's instruction to "act as Americans, not Republicans," delegates teamed up tonight. Together, about two dozen of them put together relief kits for victims of the hurricane. The kits contained personal care items. The team of delegates, as well KSL Newsradio's Doug Wright, and Lee Benson of the Deseret News, put together a thousand kits.
The delegates are now looking forward to getting down to business, and it looks like the convention will adhere to a normal schedule.
There was more noise outside the Excel Energy Center than inside today. As many as 10,000 people marched in various protests. They came from all walks of life. Most were protesting the Iraq War. Most were peaceful. But a few began harassing delegates, breaking windows, slashing car tires and throwing bottles. The small army of police that surrounds the center providing heavy security moved in quickly with pepper spray and began making arrests.
Delegates now are hoping that the storms of nature and the controversies subside, and that tomorrow the convention will turn into the celebration they expected.
The convention committee has not yet announced updated plans for tomorrow. Whatever happens, KSL News will be there all week.
E-mail: rpiatt@ksl.com
