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By Randall Jeppeson in St. PaulRepublicans are cautiously moving forward as they begin their convention. They're keeping an eye on what's left of Hurricane Gustav and the storm's impact along the Gulf Coast.
But the convention has begun, and people familiar to Utahns are participating.
The Excel Energy Center, where the convention is being held, is barricaded off from the general public. If you don't have credentials, you won't be getting anywhere near it. But the convention is not the excited party mood many had expected. Utah Gov. John Huntsman says that's because their focus is the aftermath of the hurricane gustav.
"I think that's the only thing that people are worried about right now," he says.
Huntsman says the way the convention has been toned down will show the public McCain is about taking care of business.
"This is the real world we are in," says Huntsman. "And people get to see John McCain in the real world, as opposed to more of the artifice around a convention. So here we are."
Mitt Romney has also been making the political rounds, and his very first convention stop was the Utah delegates, where he wanted to make a few things clear.
"There are a couple of you in this room, most of them my relatives, who would like to vote for me when the delegates get counted. Please don't do that," says Romney.
And as for him not being chosen as McCain's V.P. "I wasn't in it for me," he says. "I was in it for the party, and for the views of our party, and for the perspective that our party brings to America at a critical time. And so it is not at all a leap to get on the McCain Palin team. I'm very much a part of that team."
Senator Orrin Hatch has also been a sought after interview among the national media, and he's pushing the point he likes McCain's choice for Vice-President.
"I actually got tears in my eyes when she was announced to think the Republican party has a woman for Vice-President who has this many dimensions," says Hatch. "She has more knowledge of energy and the needs of our county - the number one issue of this country - than the other three put together.
But the word that Governor Sarah Palin's teenage daughter was pregnant spread like wildfire around the convention, and Hatch was one of the first to come to her defense.
"Every family has some difficulties and they have to resolve those difficulties," says Hatch. "Give the family a chance to do that. And the daughter is not running for anything. And frankly I think its hitting below the belt to bring that up."
Many republicans here hoping the hurricane damage isn't too terrible, so they can ramp things up to finish off their convention.
