On the Scene: RNC Convention

John McCain may not be president, but he sounds like one.

“This is a time when we have to do away with our party politics and we have to act as Americans,” the presumptive Republican Party presidential candidate told reporters during a satellite feed from St. Louis, when McCain announced the Republican Party is suspending all but necessary activities at its 2008 convention Monday.

The 45,000 delegates, reporters and volunteers gathered in the Twin Cities for the 2008 Republican National Convention expected to shift into party mode on the eve of the convention.  Instead, like the rest of the nation, they are subdued and concerned on the eve of what could be another major natural disaster heading toward New Orleans.

“I have every expectation that we will not see the mistakes of Katrina repeated,” McCain said.  He and his vice presidential running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, had been briefed on hurricane preparations along the Gulf Coast prior to the satellite press conference, and McCain spoke with governors from states that may be in Hurricane Gustav’s path. 

One of the governors told McCain, “Pray for the best, prepare for the worst.” McCain says they are preparing, along the Gulf as well as in St. Paul.

"We are working with delegations, financial people, finance committees and many other concerned individuals to do what we can to raise money for various charities that operate in the Gulf Coast region,” campaign manager Rick Davis said.  The Republican National Committee is also chartering flights for delegates in the hurricane zone to fly back home so they can prepare for the storm and help move their families out of harm's way.

RNC Chairman Mike Duncan said, “I happen to be the party leader today, but as McCain said, ‘I’m taking my party hat off.’ This is about the people who may be in harm’s way.”

The Republicans, led by McCain, are not only talking the talk, but they are walking the walk. You hear it in McCain’s call for bipartisan unity, “We will act together; we will open our arms as Americans always have to those who are less fortunate.”

Reporters asked Davis if there might be negative political ramifications for the campaign because of the suspension of activities here at the convention. “We really don’t have the luxury of sort of being able to evaluate the politics of this kind of situation. I think we take it as it is,” Davis said.

Plenty of pundits point out that McCain and the Republicans had no choice but to follow the course of action they announced Sunday, but that in no way should diminish the impact of what they have done; it was the right thing to do, and may come at a high price for them.  Politically powerful speeches intended to respond to the Democratic attacks on McCain are on hold, and for the time being, speakers are being told to tone it down. Corporations planning big parties are being asked to act responsibly and also tone it down. The nation’s attention is on the Gulf Coast, and a misstep by the Republicans could be trouble.

You learn a lot about people when the act under pressure, and right now we are learning a lot about McCain and the Republicans.  Wise men say you can’t change the past; you can only change the future -- and McCain’s decision to ask the Republicans to suspend convention activities may have been an easy call to make.

It certainly is the right call, but it is one that could change McCain’s future, and right now, nobody can tell how.  It is the kind of decision that presidents have to make without being certain of the outcome, and it is why today John McCain sounds like a president.