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Last Thursday Fox Analyst (and former Bush Brain) Karl Rove complained that "The Republicans can't seem to get a break when it comes to August and when it comes to the weather."  Nearly three years to the day Category 4 Hurricane Gustav is poised to strike New Orleans, just as the Republican National Convention gets underway.

Mid-afternoon Sunday Sen. John McCain announced that Monday's festivities in St. Paul, MN would be muted - scissoring the seven hour opening day schedule down to a bare minimum of two-and-a-half hours for platform ratification and miscellaneous housekeeping. Already, Pres. Bush and Vice President Cheney have sent their regrets, this in addition to Gov. Schwarzenegger indicating that he'd be unable to attend due to a state budget battle (is this the political version of "Sorry, I have to wash my hair tonight?")

McCain's announcement of his VP pick Friday was supposed to pre-empt any Obama convention bounce. Instead, the lag is giving the Dems an opportunity to define Gov. Sarah Palin before she can do so herself. And McCain?  Palin's reputation as a Maverick just might remind voters the McCain of old. The cover of this week's Economist -- hardly a socialist rag -- demands Bring Back the Real McCain. In its closer it opines: "Hawkish foreign policy, irresponsible tax cuts, more talk about religion and abortion: all this sounds too much like Bush Three." Even NBC analyst Mike Murphy -- who ran McCain's 2000 presidential campaign  said on Meet the Press yesterday that the Palin pick was "not a good strategic move."  Here's TechPresident's Nancy Scola's fine comparison of both VP nominees - where technology policy is concerned.

Heckuva Job, Bobby
Watching Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal over the weekend, Republicans must be wringing their hands that he wasn't the VP pick. BushWorld's mishandling of Katrina left, according to Scott McClellan, an "indelible stain" on the administration. Security contractor Blackwater was itself an unwelcome presence in NOLA; apparently that hasn't stopped it from posting a call for recruitment this past weekend.

Here is an opportunity to demonstrate not just photo opps but leadership and compassion. The Obama campaign has asked its email list to donate and volunteer. What if both parties worked together on this -- a time-out from politics as usual?

When the RNC does re-adjourn, especially after last week's poor broadcast and cable network coverage of the DNCC - I will again recommend C-Span (follow its coverage on Twitter via #rnc08). The GOP's own site is live as of Friday, and it does acknowledge the power of interactivity and social networks: It has presences on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, YouTube, Linked, and is offering six different channels streaming live content via UStream.TV (which should itself be a focus at the convention; the service was created by two West Point cadets who launched the service so that soldiers could communicate with one another and their loved ones). 

The suspension of the RNC just might allow Trig-Gate to mushroom. It seems that just prior to McCain's VP announcement, that Gov. Palin's Wikipedia profile was edited many times over. It's an issue because one "Young Trig," a single user, (and one who has never otherwise edited content on Wikipedia) deleted many negative references within Palin's page, minimizing her support of embattled Sen. Ted Stevens and the ongoing State-wide investigation of her version of Troopergate.

Caught On Camera
Currently there are a few viral videos making the rounds: Back in the day, Sarah Palin was an on-camera intern at Anchorage's KTUU Channel 2. Here she is doing sports commentary:

Proving that bad taste can be bi-partisan is this minute-long clip by former DNC chairman Don Fowler, who joked that Gustav was proof that God is rooting for the Dems. It's newsworthy more for the debate it provokes. Shot and uploaded on YouTube by "redstateabsentee" it was an overheard conversation -- captured without permission and without any context. While this caused moral agita for Dallas Morning News' Rod Dreher, that didn't prevent him from posting and linking to it on Beliefnet (the formerly independent portal acquired by Fox Interactive Media last December.)

The Daily Show visits the washroom at Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport. 'Nuf said.
 
It's likely that by dusk that we'll have a sense of Gustav's imminent intent -- so far it's looking like it will be downgraded --  and consequently, how the RNC will shake out. Seeing as how the theme of the RNC is Putting Country First, there's an opportunity for McCain to repair his less than honorable record on Katrina. On the brighter side, there won't be split screens of McCain accepting the nomination as Jack Abramoff testifies this Thursday.