John McCain

Republican convention off on a slow start

Tuesday 02 September 2008

Republicans are hoping to get their party's convention back on track after Hurricane Gustav forced organisers to reschedule events. President George W. Bush's absence did not deter a 10,000-strong protest against the war in Iraq.

Read our special report on the Republican National Convention

Sarah Palin reveals teenage daughter is pregnant

ST. PAUL, Minn., Sept 2 (Reuters) - Not only did Gustav
slow Republican presidential hopeful John McCain's big
convention party, it also spared him from Democratic criticism
that his election would amount to a third Bush term.
 

Convention organizers held a truncated business-only
session on Monday and scrapped a planned speech by President
George W. Bush, who visited Texas instead to oversee Hurricane
Gustav relief effort.
 

The absence of the president, whose nationwide approval
ratings hover around 30 percent, did not deter a crowd of as
many as 10,000 protesters who marched to the convention hall,
chanting anti-war slogans and holding signs criticizing Bush
and the war in Iraq.
 

Police in riot gear used pepper spray and smoke bombs and
arrested at least 130 demonstrators.
 

As Hurricane Gustav slammed the Gulf coast on Monday before
being downgraded to a tropical storm, an unofficial bipartisan
cease-fire prevailed, with most Republicans and Democrats
pulling their punches while a major part of the country was
being battered by the storm.
 

Several television news channels reported that Bush may
address the convention remotely on Tuesday but the White House
would not confirm the reports. According to the White House,
Bush has no official engagements on Tuesday.
 

Normally, Republican speakers this week would be extolling
the virtues of McCain and trying to define his Democratic rival
Barack Obama as a liberal who would raise taxes.
 

Instead, the conclave in Minnesota has turned from
politicking to raising money for Gustav victims, with U.S.
first lady Laura Bush and McCain's wife, Cindy, leading the
charge.
 

Democrats arrived in St. Paul looking to attack McCain just
as the McCain team had lashed out at Obama all last week at
Obama's nominating convention in Denver. McCain is to be
formally nominated by the Republicans on Wednesday as the
party's candidate to face Obama in the Nov. 4 election.
 

The Democrats' message is that McCain offers "more of the
same" as Bush, whose handling of the Katrina hurricane three
years ago was widely criticized and contributed to his approval
rating of about 30 percent.
 

MIXED BLESSING
 

One person scheduled to address the convention was
independent Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who
has been traveling the country with his Republican friend
McCain.
 

"I'm not going to spend any time tonight attacking Senator
Obama," Lieberman told CNN. "I'm going to talk really to people
in the hall but, I hope, to independents and Democrats out
across America about why I, as an independent Democrat, am
voting for John McCain and hope they will too."
 

While McCain is missing out on a chance to define Obama for
the American people, he also is not having to endure criticism
about appearances by Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, who
both canceled trips to St. Paul to speak.
 

As Gustav stole St. Paul's thunder, McCain's vice
presidential running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, underwent
new scrutiny and paid some dividends for McCain.
 

Palin's surprise pick has injected some fresh energy into
the McCain campaign, leading to larger crowds at his rallies.
Since he made the announcement last Friday, his campaign has
raised $10 million, contributing to an August tally of $47
million.
 

But Palin also is bringing controversy to the ticket.
 

She and her husband Todd announced on Monday that their
unmarried 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, was pregnant, and said
the news was being released to counter Internet rumors that the
Alaska governor's 5-month-old son was actually her daughter's
baby.
 

Republicans, however, rallied around Palin following the
announcement and blamed liberal bloggers for creating a fuss.
 

"I just think she's remarkable," Cindy McCain told the Fox
News channel. "She truly is a great match for my husband."
 

 McCain spokeswoman Nicolle Wallace criticized "hateful"
slurs and innuendoes in the liberal blogosphere.
 

"I think the private life of a 17-year-old child ... is
something that was being used as a political weapon by liberal
bloggers and advocates of democratic and liberal causes," she
said on Tuesday on NBC's "Today" show.