Posted on 08/26/2012 3:30:47 PM PDT by SantaLuz
Tropical Storm Isaac forced Republicans on Sunday to rewrite the script for their national convention in Tampa, as party officials scrambled to make sure candidate Mitt Romney's message to voters would not be blown off course.
Isaac was expected to spare Tampa a direct hit and strike, with hurricane strength, farther north along the Gulf Coast this week.
But it has left Republicans who canceled most of their schedule for Monday in anticipation of the storm with a new challenge for the convention's remaining three days: Help Romney make an aggressive, memorable argument to be president, while being careful to show sensitivity to those at risk from the storm.
...
Romney, who will face Democratic President Barack Obama in the Nov. 6 election, is eager to use the nationally televised political extravaganza in Tampa to define himself to American voters after a series of campaign setbacks. But his efforts could be robbed of some media attention if the storm churning in the Gulf of Mexico dominates the news this week.
Convention organizers were still reworking the schedule late Sunday as Republican delegates converged on Tampa, where the party will formally nominate Romney and his vice presidential running mate, Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan, to face Obama and Vice President Joe Biden in November.
"It's a concern competing with a major weather event," Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell said Sunday on ABC's "This Week." Still, he said he expected independent voters in particular to tune in to hear Romney's speech Thursday night, and Ryan's the previous night.
"I think we'll still get a fair amount of attention," McDonnell said, "and the message will be good."
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
another broadcast dilemma...
Could Isaac overshadow U.S. Republicans’ convention?
No, the Romney nomination has already done that.
That's just the facts. We are going to have to make the best of it. If the storm is still raging Wednesday night, maybe it will be a good idea to have Ryan and Romney both speak on Thursday night. I think it is important for Americans to see Ryan's speech without interruption.
Second time in a row the RNC was impacted by a hurricane. We really need to go back to holding these things in July!
They are rubbing their hands together and can't wait to get on with wall to wall "unexpected and unprecedented" Cat 2 hurricane coverage.
No doubt New Orleans will come through unscathed due to obama's superior leadership of FEMA and outstanding improvements over the horrible disaster caused by Bush totally blowing it. The school buses that Bush caused to be flooded will have been moved early on to take the whole populations of New Orleans to this year's lucky winner -- Dallas, where only minor chaos will be caused by its new citizens. /s /s /s
Note: The last paragraph is total sarcasm.
On the other hand, there will be millions more people with their tvs turned to the news. They’ll be watching storm coverage AND Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan at the convention.
I honestly think there’s a chance it could be a net positive for the GOP.
The media will hail him as a hero...
Oh my the media did try and for all their worthlessness to stop the Repub convention, NOW, we see the storm is heading straight into New Orleans, and places west. Florida will have a LOT of rain, but no real damage. THE REPUBLICAN CONVENTION WILL GO ON AS SCHEDULED.....YIPPEE.
Yes, Gov Jindahl has already put forces to work to remove people and take care of damage as it occurs.
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