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Post by jerseyhoya34 on Aug 31, 2008 14:04:44 GMT -5
The Convention plans are being changed as we speak. Bush and Cheney are no longer attending it in person due to the hurricane. McCain is now on record saying that the Convention will not be a festive occasion, and plans are being made to adjust the schedule/program to fit the occasion.
It is a very risky situation. On the one hand, he can't really go ahead with a hard-hitting Convention, but he might not want to be tied too closely to the Hurricane, especially if the levees break again in New Orleans. On the other hand, it might work out well if the hurricane response is effective and timely.
The hurricane may also affect campaign issues, like offshore drilling. What if rigs are damaged again in the Gulf? If the response is sound, does Katrina fade from memory?
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EasyEd
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Post by EasyEd on Aug 31, 2008 18:27:27 GMT -5
Repubs are damned if they do and damned if they don't. No matter what happens in Louisiana and surrounding areas, attention will be focused on that and not on the Republican convention. A lack of coverage of a full convention is bound to hurt the McCain/Palin ticket. And, no matter if the situation is handled well by the city, state and federal personnel, we are sure to be inundated with coverage of Katrina and its implied blame on Bush. Whatever "bounce" McCain might have enjoyed will, at the very least, be muted by Gustav.
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Bando
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Post by Bando on Aug 31, 2008 18:53:37 GMT -5
Repubs are damned if they do and damned if they don't. No matter what happens in Louisiana and surrounding areas, attention will be focused on that and not on the Republican convention. A lack of coverage of a full convention is bound to hurt the McCain/Palin ticket. And, no matter if the situation is handled well by the city, state and federal personnel, we are sure to be inundated with coverage of Katrina and its implied blame on Bush. Whatever "bounce" McCain might have enjoyed will, at the very least, be muted by Gustav. I think this is right. Even if Gustav is handled perfectly and no one brings up Katrina, the RNC will still lose top billing on the news. |
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EasyEd
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Post by EasyEd on Aug 31, 2008 18:55:12 GMT -5
Repubs are damned if they do and damned if they don't. No matter what happens in Louisiana and surrounding areas, attention will be focused on that and not on the Republican convention. A lack of coverage of a full convention is bound to hurt the McCain/Palin ticket. And, no matter if the situation is handled well by the city, state and federal personnel, we are sure to be inundated with coverage of Katrina and its implied blame on Bush. Whatever "bounce" McCain might have enjoyed will, at the very least, be muted by Gustav. I think this is right. Even if Gustav is handled perfectly and no one brings up Katrina, the RNC will still lose top billing on the news. If Bando agrees with me, I'd like to retract what I said. |
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Post by Coast2CoastHoya on Sept 1, 2008 0:24:18 GMT -5
easy, easyed  I think this is a really good move for the GOPNC. It makes it look like they've cleaned up their cavalier attitude toward natural disaster planning, downplays the Obama celeb fad by demonstrating their own gravitas, and goes a long way toward showing at least a semblance of competence that they've sorely lacked in this century. |
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Post by strummer8526 on Sept 1, 2008 0:34:39 GMT -5
easy, easyed I think this is a really good move for the GOPNC. It makes it look like they've cleaned up their cavalier attitude toward natural disaster planning, downplays the Obama celeb fad by demonstrating their own gravitas, and goes a long way toward showing at least a semblance of competence that they've sorely lacked in this century. Hell, if the city of New Orleans doesn't float away into the Gulf, it actually will be a victory for the Bush administration. Regardless of who wins this '08 election, I think the large majority of us will agree that it will be a welcome change. Bush was bad enough. The last year or so of lame duck Bush has just been sad. |
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Post by Coast2CoastHoya on Sept 1, 2008 0:37:13 GMT -5
It's like Elanor Cliff said a couple years ago on McLaughlin Group: he's the only president we grade on a curve!
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Boz
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Post by Boz on Sept 1, 2008 13:05:01 GMT -5
Michael Chertoff > Michael Brown
Gov. Jindal > Gov. Blanco
Ray Nagin 2008 > Ray Nagin 2005
and yes
George Bush 2008 > George Bush 2005.
Don't get me wrong. They're still smack in the middle of this thing and obviously, no one is out of the woods yet, and won't be for several days, but I think we can all be grateful for the better leadership and preparation we have this time around, regardless of party.
Other good news is that Hanna is not tracking too strong right now and isn't headed to the same location. It will still cause damage in Florida and the Carolinas most likely, but the Gulf Coast at least won't have to deal with the ridiculously difficult 1-2 punch of Katrina and Rita.
As for the RNC, well, what are you gonna' do? Obviously, both John McCain and Barack Obama are right, that there are some things that transcend politics, and it's good to see that everyone is on board with that. The Republicans will have plenty of time to get their message out. The race is still very close, with Obama only ahead by about 5 in tracking. I think this emergency cuts both ways politically. Yes, it does hinder the convention, but I also think it muted some of Obama's bounce after his speech. At the same time, the networks are all still going to cover the convention tonight, and what people will see is a serious, unified and non-partisan (in that there will be no attacks) Republican gathering asking people to donate money and resources. So, I won't call it a wash -- mainly because that's a really bad pun -- but it doesn't necessarily just mean bad news for McCain and good news for Obama.
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Bando
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Post by Bando on Sept 1, 2008 13:42:52 GMT -5
I personally liked that the McCain campaign criticized the Obama campaign for not suspending their campaign, on the same day McCain held a campaign event in Mississippi.
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Boz
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Post by Boz on Sept 1, 2008 14:38:42 GMT -5
Shepherd Smith......nice outfit.
;D
Of course, it beats Anderson Cooper's Simon Cowell impersonation. Why don't you just put on an Affliction shirt, AC?
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Post by strummer8526 on Sept 1, 2008 15:48:20 GMT -5
Seriously, if I see one more news man almost get blown away, I'm going to lose it. I BELIEVE YOU THAT THERE IS A HURRICANE! You can come inside now and report from an office with a window.
The Republicans could roll out the corpse of Strom Thurmond, and it would be more exciting and valuable than this hurricane coverage.
Eh, now that I see Neil Cavuto interviewing John Voight, I'm going back to the hurricanes.
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The Stig
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Post by The Stig on Sept 1, 2008 15:50:16 GMT -5
Michael Chertoff > Michael Brown Gov. Jindal > Gov. Blanco Ray Nagin 2008 > Ray Nagin 2005 and yes George Bush 2008 > George Bush 2005. More important than all of those, Gustav is a Category 2 while Katrina was a Category 5. Even with the pack of clowns they had in 2005, a Category 2 wouldn't have caused much trouble. |
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DFW HOYA
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Post by DFW HOYA on Sept 1, 2008 16:28:44 GMT -5
More important than all of those, Gustav is a Category 2 while Katrina was a Category 5. Katrina was at its peak a Category 5 in the Gulf but was Category 3 at landfall in Louisiana. Gustav was at its peak a Category 4 but was officially Category 2 at landfall. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_katrina#LouisianaFor those that might have caught the news conference, Gov. Jindal was impressive. He went nearly 40 minutes discussing the events top to bottom (at a sometimes frenetic pace) and didn't need a teleprompter or handlers to cover it. |
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Bando
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Post by Bando on Sept 2, 2008 13:38:37 GMT -5
Giuliani's not keynoting tonight anymore. He's replaced with Joe Lieberman and Fred Thompson ( AP Link) |
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Boz
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Post by Boz on Sept 2, 2008 15:13:44 GMT -5
Scandal! How dare he, um, own a parking lot?.....uhhh, yeah. That's the ticket. What is the point behind this? Please elaborate. You Tube & online video....a 21st century substitute for thought. |
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Post by strummer8526 on Sept 2, 2008 21:20:19 GMT -5
This Convention has turned into some kind of Friar's Club Roast with Fred Thompson talking about strippers and John McCain's father's demerits.
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Post by williambraskyiii on Sept 2, 2008 21:26:17 GMT -5
I actually think Fred Thompson is giving a helluva speech. This is the most charisma I've seen from the man since Die Hard 2.
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Post by strummer8526 on Sept 2, 2008 22:04:27 GMT -5
I actually think Fred Thompson is giving a helluva speech. This is the most charisma I've seen from the man since Die Hard 2. Yeah, I admit he did turn it around. At the point where he mentioned a stripper and was talking about McCain's mom, it was entertaining but not very relevant in any way. When he started getting down to McCain and the story of his POW experience, he did speak incredibly well. He did the story justice, and admittedly, McCain's time there do reveal very admirable things. The speech certainly got better. |
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kchoya
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Post by kchoya on Sept 3, 2008 9:48:15 GMT -5
Chris Matthews and the DNC-NBC panel touched on this last night, but doesn't this really feel like the John McCain convention, instead of the GOP convention? Not that it's a bad thing, as I really think the presidential campaign is about the people running more than their party, but it is a contrast to the tones of past conventions.
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Bando
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Post by Bando on Sept 3, 2008 9:49:56 GMT -5
I actually think Fred Thompson is giving a helluva speech. This is the most charisma I've seen from the man since Die Hard 2. Best FT lines ever are from Red October: "This business will get out of control. It will get out of control and we'll be lucky to live through it." "Russians don't take a dump, son, without a plan." |
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