As Hurricane Gustav battered southern U.S. states, the Republican National Convention started a much-shortened opening session in St. Paul, Minn. on Monday afternoon, with next day's agenda still uncertain.
With the cancellation of planned speeches by President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, the opening session only lasted two hours and was largely confined to official convention business.
Toward the end of the session, First Lady Laura Bush and Cindy McCain, wife of presumptive GOP nominee John McCain, spoke at the podium, encouraging delegates to contribute to hurricane relief efforts.
"Like all of you, George and I were planning to come and enjoy the convention and have a really good time. But events on the Gulf Coast have changed our priorities," said Laura. "First, we're all Americans," she said, noting the nation needs to focus on assisting those hit hard by Hurricane Gustav.
"We will try not to overly politicize it," McCain campaign manager Rick Davis said during a morning conference call with reporters. "It was our intention to keep politics out."
A convention that has already been drastically altered by Hurricane Gustav was further buffeted Monday morning by the revelation that the 17-year-old daughter of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the party's vice-presidential pick, is five-months pregnant and plans to marry the father of the child.
"Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned," Palin and her husband, Todd Palin, said in a statement issued by the campaign.
"We're proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents." The campaign said.
McCain was aware of the situation before he selected Palin as his running mate, and the news was made public in apparent response to rumors percolating in the liberal blogosphere that Trig, Sarah Palin's 5-month-old son who suffers from Down Syndrome, might actually be Bristol Palin's child.
At a campaign event in Monroe, Mich., Democratic nominee Barack Obama made clear that neither he nor his campaign would politicize the Palin family's situation.
Though the buzz among convention-goers was focused on the Palin story, Gustav's progress through the Gulf Coast remained the largest and most uncertain factor influencing events in St. Paul.
Organizers have not yet announced a schedule for Tuesday or the rest of the week, though McCain campaign officials expressed optimism that the nominee would be able to appear as scheduled on Thursday night.
The convention is partnering with a handful of corporate sponsors to assemble 80,000 "comfort packages" for Gulf Coast residents affected by the hurricane. Many of the week's scheduled parties are being restructured as fundraisers to assist relief efforts.
Some 4,500 delegates adopted a party platform in the opening session, with no emphasis on Iraq war. It also contained many conservative ideas such as abortion ban, deportation of illegal immigrants convicted of gang crimes and no new taxes.
An estimated 10,000 anti-war protesters held a large rally near Xcel center, the site of the convention. Police used pepper spray on the demonstrators and made at least five arrests.
Source:Xinhua
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