McCain says Gustav will change focus of Republican convention

Arizona Sen. John McCain told the press pool traveling with him that there would be dramatic changes to the Republican Convention because Hurricane Gustav.

Scott Horsley, who is traveling with McCain for National Public Radio, reports that McCain, flanked by Haley Barbour and Sarah Palin, said that the event would no longer be a celebratory event, but a call to action.

“We must redirect our efforts from the really celebratory event of the nomination of president and vice president of our party to acting as all Americans. We’ll change our program and I’ll be announcing details of it in the next few hours. But there’s very little doubt that we have to go from a party event to a call to the nation for action, action to help our fellow citizens in this time of tragedy and disaster, action in the form of volunteering, donations, reaching out our hands and our hearts and our wallets to the people who are under such great threat from this great natural disaster. I pledge that tomorrow night, and if necessary, throughout our convention if necessary, to act as Americans not Republians, because America needs us now no matter whether we are Republican or Democrat.”

In a move Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post describes as a “sigh of relief” for Republican strategists, Pres. George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have decided that they will not appear at the convention on opening night. While Bush may reschedule his appearance for later in the week, Cheney leaves on a trip overseas Tuesday and is not expected to return before the end of the convention.