President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney canceled their appearances, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger won't speak today as planned and neither will Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independently elected Democrat who supports presumptive GOP nominee John McCain.
The planned political rally today, and possibly the rest of the week, is being replaced by a condensed, straight-up business meeting. And that's fine with Utah delegates, who showed up ready to root for their party but now are tamping down the partisan cheering.
"It certainly takes a bit of the wind out of your sails," said Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert as he checked into the delegation's Bloomington hotel. But, "the No. 1 concern has to be for the people of the Gulf Coast."
Democrats concluded their convention Thursday with about 84,000 people crowding into a football arena to hear Sen. Barack Obama accept the party's nomination. But with Gustav expected to make landfall today, the Republicans say putting on a partisan rally would be inappropriate.
"There are some things that are more important than politics," said Utah Republican Party Chairman Stan Lockhart.
Some of the show will go on.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who Utah Republicans backed with 90 percent of the vote in their February primary, plans to drop by the delegation's breakfast this morning, and the delegates as of Sunday evening had planned to tour historic Fort Snelling today. Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. is expected to speak at the convention Tuesday, though that could change, depending on the storm's intensity.
McCain put the convention essentially on hold for the time being and may even appear on monitors via satellite to accept the nomination if the hurricane is as devastating as expected.
"This is not a time for politics or celebration," McCain campaign manager Rick Davis said. "It is a time for us to come together as Americans and assist the residents of the Gulf states."
The Republican Party chartered a passenger jet to return some delegates to affected home states on the Gulf.
The Democratic Party, too, shut down its welcome party at its war room in St. Paul, Minn., and dropped a planned news conference for this morning.
Utah delegates took the news in stride, with some still attending a red-carpet event Sunday.
Senate President John Valentine said the change of direction of the convention is warranted, though it makes it tough after so much planning.
"It does make it more difficult to exhibit the energy that everyone is feeling for the election," he said. "But everyone is more concerned" with those in the path of the storm.
His son Jeremy and his family live in New Orleans where Jeremy is doing his medical residency. They evacuated to Dallas and are safe, Valentine said.
Even if the convention is subdued, St. Paul and its surrounding cities are decked out in red, white and blue, and dotted with elephants greeting thousands of delegates, reporters and guests.
Utah delegates are unsure how their planned schedule will play out yet, but may still have a pizza party, ice cream social, tour of the Mall of America and a visit to downtown Minneapolis. But they say they won't miss the big show that was planned before Gustav.
"In the end, the only real important thing will occur on Thursday, which is the nomination of our candidate - all other activities are fluff," said GOP activist and lobbyist Spencer Stokes.
tburr@sltrib.com
