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Storm spells problems for ‘bump’ GOP expected from Tampa convention

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Photo credit: NASA Goddard Photo and Video

By Jim Rutenberg and Michael Shear. With the Tropical Storm Isaac now forecast to roar northwest past Tampa on Monday and Tuesday, officials scrambled to reconfigure what had been a four-night schedule into three and to make contingency plans for further changes.

But even if the storm largely bypasses this region, it holds the risk of creating an uncomfortable split-screen image, especially if it continues barreling toward New Orleans. The governors of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama declared states of emergency in anticipation of the storm.

Republicans were wary of the optics of television coverage split between the revelry and partisanship surrounding Mr. Romney’s nomination and the threat of the storm making landfall in Louisiana or Mississippi seven years to the week after Hurricane Katrina left an American city in ruins.

At the very least, Mr. Romney’s image makers were coming to terms with sharing the news spotlight with the storm just as they were hoping their gathering would give their candidate the exposure he needs to surge ahead of President Obama.

Instead of focusing on the convention and on Republicans descending on the swing state of Florida, local news outlets were giving constant and increasingly urgent updates on the storm’s path. Network correspondents here were girding to be reassigned from convention coverage to hurricane coverage, heavy rain gear and all. Fox News Channel said it was diverting a marquee anchor, Shepard Smith, to New Orleans from here. Read more from this story HERE.

Due to state of emergency, Gov. Bobby Jindal decides to stay in Louisiana rather than attend the Tampa GOP convention

By Adam Levy. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is staying in his home state for now as Tropical Storm Isaac heads towards New Orleans.

The two-term governor was to arrive in Tampa on Tuesday to address the delegates of Republican National Convention that evening. Instead of preparing for his high-profile speech, he declared a state of emergency Sunday and asked for voluntary evacuations in 15 low-lying parishes on or near the Gulf Coast.

“My priority is the safety of our people. And certainly as this storm threatens the public safety here in Louisiana, I’m not going anywhere,” Jindal said at a news conference. “As long as we’re in harms way, I need to be right here doing my job and that’s what I’m going to be doing.”

Under the RNC’s new revised schedule, Jindal is expected to speak Wednesday night should he attend the convention.
Jindal isn’t the only member of the Louisiana delegation not attending the convention. Jefferson Parish President John Young canceled his plans due to the potential impact Isaac could have on his constituents. State Rep, Lenar Whitney and New Orleans public service commission member Eric Skrmetta are currently driving back to Louisiana as well.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus announced Saturday night that all programs for Monday, the first day of the convention, were canceled. Read more from this story HERE.

Ron Paul declines speaking slot at Tampa after Romney demands preapproval, unqualified endorsement

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The libertarian Republican presidential candidate says he’s declined an opportunity to speak at the Republican National Convention in Tampa because Mitt Romney’s campaign imposed two conditions on any Paul speech — that it be reviewed by the nominee-to-be’s team and that it include an endorsement without hesitation or reservation.

“It wouldn’t be my speech,” the Texas congressman told the New York Times. “That would undo everything I’ve done in the last 30 years. I don’t fully endorse him for president.”

Pundits noted that the uncompromising attitude that has won Paul a national following also limits his clout within the GOP.

“Uncompromising and perfectly willing to operate on the margins of mainstream politics for decades, Ron Paul proved unable to take his liberty message to a broader audience,” Charlie Mahtesian wrote today in Politico. “Even this year, at the height of his national influence and popularity, the Texas congressman failed to win the popular vote in a single state and never seriously threatened to win the GOP nomination.”

But inside the University of South Florida’s Sun Dome, where Paul is holding a celebration of his candidacy today, supporters say Paul’s unyielding principles are why they love him. Jordan Page, a singer who has penned several ballads about the Texas congressman, called Paul “the one sane voice in a sea of madness.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Romney’s coup: Power grab allows him & RNC to change GOP rules without delegates’ vote in Tampa

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The Republican National Convention Rules Committee voted 63-38 to approve a new rule allowing granting the Republican National Committee — and Mitt Romney — sweeping new powers to amend the governing document of the GOP.

The move came at the encouragement of Mitt Romney supporters on the committee, including Romney’s top lawyer Ben Ginsberg, who stressed that it would grant “flexibility” to Romney and the committee to adapt to changing political environments. The rule allows the RNC to amend the party’s rules without a vote by the full Republican National Convention. And it offers the Republican Establishment a new tool to keep at by Tea Party initiatives that threaten to embarrass or contradict party leadership and stray from a planned message.

Romney, as his party’s nominee, exerts significant influence over the RNC, which is made up of elected party officials from all 50 states, while the larger Convention Rules Committee is larger and has a more grassroots membership.

“This is necessary for the world in which we find ourselves in,” Ginsberg told the committee, adding that it is “important for the political survival of the party in the electoral context,” for the committee to be able to change the rules as it sees fit in the intervening four years between conventions.

Virginia delegate and RNC member Morton Blackwell strenuously objected to the proposed rule change, calling it “the most awful proposed amendments I’ve seen presented to this committee.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Where do Ron and Rand Paul fit in at the GOP convention?

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Photo credit: Gage Skidmore

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus has announced an initial list of seven prominent Republicans who will speak at the party’s national convention in Tampa later this month.

But the list, which includes five current and former governors, a U.S. senator, and a former secretary of state does not include either Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) or his son, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.). The list will be built out in the coming weeks, but it’s still worth exploring where the Pauls – two figures with intense national followings – fit in at Mitt Romney’s nominating convention. They can’t be ignored entirely, but featuring them too prominently is also a risky proposition for the GOP.

For Republicans, there are both benefits and drawbacks to including either of the Pauls on the list of convention speakers. Generating enthusiasm among a vocal base of activists is an argument in favor of promoting them. Ron Paul attracted strong support at numerous GOP presidential straw polls in 2011 and his loyal legion of fans often travel across the country to back him. Before Romney won the straw poll at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, Paul was the victor there two years in a row.

One could also make a compelling argument to include the younger Paul as a speaker. Rand Paul’s unlikely 2010 Senate campaign victory, which the opthamologist won in the face of establishment opposition, has made him a popular figure in the tea party — and one who is well-positioned to inherit the mantle of his father, who is retiring at the end of the current Congress.

Ron Paul’s supporters, meanwhile, are eager for him to have a visible presence at the convention. Throughout the 2012 primary campaign, the former presidential candidate continued push for delegate support in individual states brought the Texas congressman within range of securing a speaking slot at the convention on his own. He ultimately fell short in Nebraska, where he failed to get the number delegates he needed to guarantee a spot.

Read more from this story HERE.