Republicans treading stormy waters as convention proceeds

The Republican National Convention avoided a direct hit from Tropical Storm Isaac, but that doesn't mean the Republicans are out of danger from the storm, now barreling through the Gulf on a path that encompasses New Orleans. The governors of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi declared states of emergency. Major news organizations are moving their lead reporters off of convention coverage and to New Orleans.

The RNC avoided the direct hit to Tampa that they most feared, but now they've got an entirely different problem on their hands: optics. How do you stage a celebratory convention full of pageantry and people dressed up in inane costumes when the rest of the nation is focused on the Gulf Coast, with Katrina and the massive failure of the last Republican president still fresh in the nation's collective memory?

En route from his vacation home in Wolfeboro, N.H., on Sunday for a speech rehearsal, Mr. Romney stayed optimistic, telling reporters who asked him if he was concerned, 'It'll be a great convention.' But, he said: 'I hope everybody's fine there. I'm concerned about the people that are going to be affected by it.' [...]

It is the second consecutive time Republicans have had their conventions disrupted by the August storms. Faced with a similar prospect of a Gulf Coast hurricane four years ago during his convention in Minneapolis, Senator John McCain canceled the first night of ceremonies. [...]

The suffering from Hurricane Katrina was still fresh then, with the storm representing to Democrats a failure of compassion and competence by the Bush administration.

This will also pit the key message of the Republicans'smaller government and austerity to pay for the tax cuts for the wealthy'against the response of President Obama and his administration to the impending disaster.

On Sunday afternoon, the White House sent out a statement detailing Mr. Obama's call to the Republican governor here, Rick Scott.

'The president also told the governor to let him know if there are any unmet needs or additional resources the administration could provide, including in support of efforts to ensure the safety of those visiting the state for the Republican National Convention,' it read.

Meanwhile, vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan's budget would reduce the funding for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the agency responsible for predicting and tracking storms, by $725 million, endangering nearly 15,000 jobs. NOAA's work is critical to emergency response planning for the whole government.

The Republican Party doesn't believe in a federal government response to natural disasters. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's fight to prevent emergency funding after Hurricane Irene last year proves it, if you needed more proof after Bush's Katrina disaster. But that's the last thing Republicans want highlighted this week. Too bad Mother Nature had other plans for them.

8:34 AM PT: Just how worried are Republicans about these optics? Worried enough to plot out a worst-case scenario, a one-day convention:

One of the worst-case scenarios would be Romney delivering a brief speech declaring the emergency is bigger than politics, shuttering the convention and turning the public's attention to the Gulf Coast.

"That might not be the worst-case scenario' politically for Romney if he's seen as putting people ahead of politics, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss convention options.