Grim Gustav ruins the GOP's party

Greetings from BFE, Minnesota, where I've staked out some territory for my Big Cheese Beliefnet editor Steve Waldman, en route to the RNC. We're miles and miles from the convention hall in St. Paul, and the shuttle bus doesn't start running till tomorrow, so here I sit until then, reading the Internet and watching cable news and trying not to freak out over the storm.

Just saw the latest storm map, and it looks like my family are in the direct line of fire of this thing. Dad says they're as ready as they can be. Thank God they live on high ground; the worst thing they'll have to worry about are tornadoes. I changed my convention plans at the DFW airport once I learned that McCain might give his speech from Louisiana, not here. That, and when I realized that I might need to drive down to Louisiana late this week to deliver supplies to my folks ("We're probably going to be without power for a long time," my dad said). And, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get into DFW if I came back on Friday, as I initially planned -- but now I see where the storm has picked up forward speed, and will be in north Texas on by Wednesday ... and it's going to park itself over us and rain and rain and rain.

There were lots of Republican conventiongoers on the plane up from DFW today. I heard lots of nervous talk about Gustav. People did quite understandably talk about how this thing is going to affect the convention -- this, after nervously but sincerely, I'm sure, expressing concern for the folks on the coast. Standing in line waiting to board the flight, I asked Phil Gramm how he thought Gustav was going to affect proceedings in St. Paul. He didn't even want to discuss it, saying all we could do was pray for the people there. Other Republicans with whom I spoke had their own thoughts about how McCain and Palin should handle this.

It strikes me that the political effect of this storm could either prove a disaster for the Republicans, on several fronts ... or it could offer them a potential for redemption, of a sort. It was a good sign that President Bush is going to skip the convention because of this. I do hope it's true that John McCain will go to the storm zone to give his convention speech. McCain has been critical of the Bush administration's handling of Katrina; here's an opportunity for McCain to show how to do it right. I

If McCain does right by Louisiana in the aftermath of Gustav, he could rally the nation around a "country first" call for volunteers and donors to bring relief to the storm's victims. Any sane and compassionate national politician would do that, obviously, and I expect that Obama and Biden will be in the storm zone too. But the spotlight is on McCain this week, not only because of the convention but because Bush is widely thought to have handled Katrina badly. If McCain can manage to galvanize and inspire to an extraordinary degree without appearing to exploit the suffering for political advantage, he could do himself a hell of a lot of good. I think both McCain and Obama have a difficult challenge ahead of them this week, trying to lead effectively without seeming to take cheap political advantage of the crisis.

Give Sarah Palin a chainsaw, which I'm sure she knows how to use, and put her to work clearing downed trees, and so much the better.

This is also Gov. Bobby Jindal's moment. He has his job today largely because his predecessor, Democratic Gov. Kathleen Blanco, lost the confidence of the people of Louisiana because of her poor handling of the Katrina disaster. She didn't even bother to run for re-election. Now Jindal is being tried in the same crucible. How will he lead? We're about to find out.

UPDATE: McCain just appeared on Fox announcing the suspension of most convention proceedings Monday. He asked everyone to keep their focus on the people of the Gulf Coast facing the hurricane. He also said -- this is key, I think -- that now is time for people to do more than just pray and send good wishes to the people in the storm's path, but to act to help them. McCain's voice was hoarse, but he spoke with vigor. He concluded:

I want to thank my fellow Republicans for taking off their Republican hat and putting on their American hat. America, we're with you. America, we're going to care for these people in this time of need. ... The time for action is now.

Well said. Well done.