There was no organized euphoria on the convention floor in St. Paul today -- no arena-rock atmospherics, no big rabble-rousing speeches, and practically no convention at all; the main business commenced shortly after 4, with the arena spookily emptied out just 80 minutes later.

But among the GOP delegates, things could hardly have looked brighter, even if a little confusing. After all, the first day of this convention had looked for all the world like a minefield, with President Bush and Vice President Cheney reminding the country (and the party) of the shames of the past eight years. But that fine fellow, Gustav, gave the party a perfect excuse to forget about all that -- and to divert at least some of the national media away from the stormclouds quickly gathering around John McCain's choice for a vice president.

Matthew Wallace, a 20-year-old Young Republican from Shreveport, La., wearing a string of red, white and blue beads that lit up like Christmas lights and added almost the only festive note of the day, was among the delegates seeing Gustav as an opportunity for Republicans to show "we learned our lessons from Hurricane Katrina. You see the response has been 180 degrees from that, and Gov. Jindal has done a wonderful job."

So is this episode actually helpful politically for Republicans? "I think so," Wallace said. "I think it's a way for Senator McCain to showcase his experience and his talent to the country -- that when it's 3 a.m. and you have that national crisis, who do you want picking up that phone? I think Senator McCain is shifting focus here, making a sacrifice rather than taking this opportunity to showcase himself to the nation. It really shows that he's an American first and a Republican second." And that he's not Bush? "I think so."

Not, mind you, that there was anything truly amiss in the Bush administration's response to Katrina.

"The disaster of Katrina was not the government's fault," declared Walley Naylor, an African-American delegate from Mississippi who heads the state's Child Support office. "I've been trained to provide response to natural disasters. Everybody knows there's a law that requires a state to request federal assistance, and the state of Louisiana failed to do their part and make sure their citizens were taken care of. They had a Democratic governor and a Democratic mayor. They just blamed the president, and the best I know, it wasn't his fault. Our governor" -- Republican Haley Barbour -- "did something different. He said, 'Let's not complain, let's pick up the pieces and go do what we've got to do.' Louisiana did the opposite. They played politics, and after everything fell apart, they just wanted to blame the president."

Barbara Thorburn, a delegate from Guadalupe County, Texas, agreed most heartily. "We said we'd just do our business today and not have 10 million speakers, and that's OK," she said, laughing. "We're going to get to hear them anyway. But I don't think if there's flooding we ought to do anything different" after Monday. "If people didn't leave, it's exactly what they told them in Louisiana: They said, 'We're going to put you in jail if you didn't leave and you get into trouble.' Honestly: Whatever people are going to do, they should not expect people to come in and bail them out."

And that's what happened last time?

"Because the leadership of Louisiana was Democratic last time, they didn't want help. So when it got to be a big problem, then they wanted to blame it on us. That's what I think happened." To which Thorburn offers a big, hearty, "Ha ha ha ha. The media is not Republican, and they're going to say what they want to say. But I think they've done a great job this time."

In the larger public perception, she acknowledged, "It's a way to say we've learned from our mistakes. That's exactly like Sarah Palin's daughter having a baby. We learn from our mistakes and go on."

Like every delegate I spoke with, Thorburn was at least outwardly delirious about Palin -- and saw another opportunity to rewrite the Republican script in her 17-year-old daughter's unscripted pregnancy. "Oh, wow: We love her. She is perfect!" And the daughter? "You know, kids get into trouble, families handle it. I think that's what they're doing. They're pro-life. I think the fact that they're having the baby is beautiful."

Will it be tougher for Palin to peddle her abstinence-only message now? "No. We teach our kids, and sometimes they don't do what we teach. I actually think this could be a great example for other people. To me, it's a non-issue. Families take care of that. They do. She might get married tomorrow. How many kids out there get married after having their babies? Not that we want that in our country, but the way you handle it with your family is the most important thing. You tell them you love them, we make mistakes." Unless, maybe, you decided to stay put in New Orleans.

Florida delegates Peter and Sally Feaman were a bit more honest about their disappointment on Monday. "It inconveniences us, because we spent a lot of money to come here," he said, "but in light of everything going on before with Katrina, and now going on down there, it's absolutely the right thing," he said.

"It's really good to hear that a lot of the private parties that were going to be held are canceled to donate the money to relief efforts," said Sally Feaman -- including the big Florida blowout on Thursday night, with money now going to the Red Cross. "That's where the heart of the convention is. I'm really impressed with that."

"That's hard to argue with, isn't it?" said Feaman. "And maybe we'll get a better night's sleep than what we'd anticipated."

Even the heartiest of GOP delegates might be losing a bit of sleep over Palin before the week is out. But the Feamans agreed with their Texas cohort that both the hurricane and the vice-presidential pick are actually hopeful things for the party. (Who says Democrats are Koolaid-drinkers?)

"There's a different face for Republicans to put forward with this hurricane, sure," he said. "But also with the vice-presidential pick: a woman, mid-40s, hockey mom, five kids, and yet sharp and tough and reformed the Alaska Republican Party when they'd forgotten what they were there for. She kicked their butts. That's the future of the Republican Party, and an opportunity to reinvent the party as well -- not that it necessarily needed reinventing," he added with a laugh.

"The silver lining in that cloud with her daughter is that she is certainly relatable for most people. She can understand what the average family is going through, with those kinds of problems, because nobody's immune to them. And not only does she talk the talk, she walks the walk. It sounds to me like there's no phoniness involved here, and don't you think that's what the American people want? That's real life stuff, and that's good."

Palin, Feaman said, "has really energized the base of Republican women, who maybe weren't so excited with McCain. Women who weren't sure if they were going to make the calls, knock on doors, they are excited. And you can't blame 'em."

So she's no Dan Quayle? I ask.

"Well," Feaman laughed. "I want to hear her spell 'potato'."

Comments (16)

1. "...because nobody's immune to them."

   Nobody.

   Posted by Benchrest at 09/01/2008 @ 7:42pm

2. Perhaps you should explain, frank, why in your opinion McCain is an admirable candidate.

   As for Senator Clinton, the primaries are over, the convention is over, the nomination is over, and she and President Clinton made it crystal clear last week that they are supporting Obama-Biden.

   To quote Senator Clinton:

   "I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me? Or were you in it for that young Marine and others like him? Were you in it for that mom struggling with cancer while raising her kids? Were you in it for that boy and his mom surviving on the minimum wage? Were you in it for all the people in this country who feel invisible?

   "We need leaders once again who can tap into that special blend of American confidence and optimism that has enabled generations before us to meet our toughest challenges. Leaders who can help us show ourselves and the world that with our ingenuity, creativity, and innovative spirit, there are no limits to what is possible in America.

   "This won't be easy. Progress never is. But it will be impossible if we don't fight to put a Democrat in the White House.

   "We need to elect Barack Obama because we need a President who understands that America can't compete in a global economy by padding the pockets of energy speculators, while ignoring the workers whose jobs have been shipped overseas. We need a President who understands that we can't solve the problems of global warming by giving windfall profits to the oil companies while ignoring opportunities to invest in new technologies that will build a green economy....

   "Nothing less than the fate of our nation and the future of our children hang in the balance."

   Posted by siegeljd at 09/01/2008 @ 10:45pm

3. I live in NY state, if HRC is so controversial and dems aren't united, why does every single small town here have an Obama headquarters???

   people need to be careful of false misleading info from MSM such as CNN which is trying to influence this election on behalf of GOP...

   "On Monday morning, Ms. Palin and her husband, Todd, issued a statement saying that their 17-year-old unmarried daughter, Bristol, was five months pregnant and that she intended to marry the father."

   "Among other less attention-grabbing news of the day: it was learned that Ms. Palin now has a private lawyer in a legislative ethics investigation in Alaska into whether she abused her power in dismissing the state's public safety commissioner; that she was a member for two years in the 1990s of the Alaska Independence Party, which has at times sought a vote on whether the state should secede; and that Mr. Palin was arrested 22 years ago on a drunken-driving charge"

   GOP ticket has NO FAMILY VALUES and IS NOT CONSERVATIVE in any way, would continue tax breaks for top 1% in offshore banks who do not pay ANY TAXES...and actually steal our money....

   DON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

   Posted by jrs112 at 09/02/2008 @ 09:36am

4. "Is there just one person at The Nation who supports Hillary Clinton or at least considers John McCain to be an admirable candidate?" asked "FrankGrits."

   Actually, the key word in your question is "or."

   There may be a few admirers of Hillary Clinton left at THE NATION, though probably all of the NATION staff prefer Barack Obama's vote against the war to Clinton's vote in its favor.

   As for McCain admirers... No. I don't believe there are any of those left at THE NATION (though there were some eight years ago), and for good reason. McCain has left all of his identifiably "maverick" qualities behind and has unmistakably joined the herd.

   The rarest bird of all is one who admires BOTH Clinton AND McCain. That would be you, "FrankGrits." Nobody else that I know.

   Posted by JakobFabian at 09/02/2008 @ 09:37am

5. mcsame supported legislation for companies such as DBL to outsource jobs from states such as OH and led to losses of American jobs...now he gets VP who just signed a bill for thousands of miles of pipelines through AK to arctic circle....which is HER ONLY THING she has ever done besides have illegal investigations to get rid of competitiion or brother in law she doesn't like; she belongs on Dr. Phil, not as as VP..........

   Posted by jrs112 at 09/02/2008 @ 09:39am

6. An urgent conversation this country needs to be having is on maintaining and repairing infrastructure. Here are two links from Civil Engineering(published by the American Society of Civil Engineers)(I worked for an civil engineering firm for 8 yrs but no longer do):

   The Infrastructure Crisis http://pubs.asce.org/magazines/CEMag/2008/Issue_01-08/article1.htm

   Levee Leader http://pubs.asce.org/magazines/CEMag/2007/Issue_04-07/article1.htm

   Posted by hvmiller at 09/02/2008 @ 10:56am

7. FrankGrits-You believe that McCain is a fascist as you told us on numerous occasions when you thought Hillary would win.In fact,that is how you view all republicans as you have stated so many many times.

   Posted by i'm nobody at 09/02/2008 @ 11:18am

8. Screw potato, I want to see her spell GOP. I love Sarah. I love her life story. It sounds a lot like my story, but I don't want her sharing responsibility for the nuclear trigger. Look we tried good ol' boy, born again "amener". We can't afford eight more years of stupid. The country doesn't have that luxury.

   Posted by lachatte at 09/02/2008 @ 12:36pm

9. I think that by now it is quite obvious that hurricane Gustav (a category 2 storm) was the perfect excuse that the Republicans found for not having a convention. In addition to the worldwide embarrassment that would have derived from having Bush and Cheney as central figures in the opening night, now everybody knows that McCain picked up his running mate almost from the phone book, after taking a 5 minute look at her. Meanwhile, the Party's "professionals" had spent about two months "vetting" other potential candidates. But of course, the Christian fundamentalists who now run the GOP are happy because she is "pro life", and I guess that is all it counts. If Obama does not win after getting such a big helping hand from McCain's blunders, then I think we are all doomed.

   Posted by Onca at 09/02/2008 @ 12:47pm

10. Perhaps you should explain, frank, why in your opinion McCain is an admirable candidate.

    As for Senator Clinton, the primaries are over, the convention is over, the nomination is over, and she and President Clinton made it crystal clear last week that they are supporting Obama-Biden.

    To quote Senator Clinton:

    "I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me? Or were you in it for that young Marine and others like him? Were you in it for that mom struggling with cancer while raising her kids? Were you in it for that boy and his mom surviving on the minimum wage? Were you in it for all the people in this country who feel invisible?

    "We need leaders once again who can tap into that special blend of American confidence and optimism that has enabled generations before us to meet our toughest challenges. Leaders who can help us show ourselves and the world that with our ingenuity, creativity, and innovative spirit, there are no limits to what is possible in America.

    "This won't be easy. Progress never is. But it will be impossible if we don't fight to put a Democrat in the White House.

    "We need to elect Barack Obama because we need a President who understands that America can't compete in a global economy by padding the pockets of energy speculators, while ignoring the workers whose jobs have been shipped overseas. We need a President who understands that we can't solve the problems of global warming by giving windfall profits to the oil companies while ignoring opportunities to invest in new technologies that will build a green economy....

    "Nothing less than the fate of our nation and the future of our children hang in the balance."

    Posted by siegeljd at 09/02/2008 @ 2:41pm

11. Perhaps you should explain, frank, why in your opinion McCain is an admirable candidate.

    As for Senator Clinton, the primaries are over, the convention is over, the nomination is over, and she and President Clinton made it crystal clear last week that they are supporting Obama-Biden.

    To quote Senator Clinton:

    "I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me? Or were you in it for that young Marine and others like him? Were you in it for that mom struggling with cancer while raising her kids? Were you in it for that boy and his mom surviving on the minimum wage? Were you in it for all the people in this country who feel invisible?

    "We need leaders once again who can tap into that special blend of American confidence and optimism that has enabled generations before us to meet our toughest challenges. Leaders who can help us show ourselves and the world that with our ingenuity, creativity, and innovative spirit, there are no limits to what is possible in America.

    "This won't be easy. Progress never is. But it will be impossible if we don't fight to put a Democrat in the White House.

    "We need to elect Barack Obama because we need a President who understands that America can't compete in a global economy by padding the pockets of energy speculators, while ignoring the workers whose jobs have been shipped overseas. We need a President who understands that we can't solve the problems of global warming by giving windfall profits to the oil companies while ignoring opportunities to invest in new technologies that will build a green economy....

    "Nothing less than the fate of our nation and the future of our children hang in the balance."

    Posted by siegeljd at 09/02/2008 @ 2:41pm

12. Someone needs to remind Jacobfabian that Senator McCain has never voted against the war.

    Posted by minuff at 09/02/2008 @ 5:00pm

13. ...Er, I mean Senator OBAMA has never voted against the war...

    Posted by minuff at 09/02/2008 @ 5:02pm

14. It seems that God was listening to those prayers that He would send a storm to disrupt the convention so that His chosen people might ascend to the White House. Be careful what you pray for, God always answers prayers. it is very convenent, that the GOP has found a way to distance McSame from Bush/Chaney and an excuse for the lack of enthusiam for the ticket. I heard a Repub justifying the frigid gov's misuse of power (sometimes called corruption)by saying that the ex-bro-n-law/trooper was an abusive, wife-beater, who beat up grandpa and tasered nephew, and the gov sent emails asking the Public Safety Commissioner to fire him. when the Comm. didn't fired trooper/bad guy; ladygov fired the Commissioner. ok, here's the deal; if a law enforcement officer does any one of the above, beats wife, tasers ch or assaults the gov's dad that is grounds for charges, arrest and firing. why would the commissioner even need the gov's request or demand to fire? why would he not suspend immediately and investigate? why would he give up his own job to protect such a criminal? wouldn't he or the trooper be under investigation, not the gov.? in KY we say, somethin in the milk ain't clean. we also call it Abuse of Power and that is what we have had for the last eight years. Did they try water boarding the commissioner? then there r those wonderful family values, (tm GOP) like the focus on the family prayers, they seem to be backfiring. no birth control, no abortion, no idea what you daughter is doing? well, maybe it's like Iraq, the gov said she hadn't thought about it much. there are plenty of qualified women but how condescending can you get to think women will vote for any woman. same old mentality that goes back Geo Sr thought women would vote for Quayle because he was cute.

    Posted by ChristianLiberal at 09/02/2008 @ 5:08pm

15. Thank you, Nation, for letting us see what Republicans really are.

    I thought Repubs who support evil like Bush, Cheney, Flip-Flop McCain just believed in different things ... and had lousy memories.

    Now I hear GOP attendees twist their stupid selves into pretzels and stick their brains up their butts.

    1. They LIE, saying Louisiana did not get FEMA aid -- it DID get vicious Blackwater mercenaries after Katrina in 2005 -- BECAUSE IT WAS RUN BY DEMOCRATS who did not ask the Feds for help. (True on Dem Governor; Bull$hit on Did Not Ask for Help; a GOP Lie.)

    2. They are HYPOCRITES, saying Barack Obama is inexperienced, Joe Biden is invisible, but one-foot-in-grave McCain will live forever. If he doesn't ...

    3. They are BLIND. John McSame picked cream puff honey bunny Palin for VP. We should shut up and NOT notice Sarah Palin's Troopergate Ethics Violations in her terribly short life as governor. NOT look at Out-of-Wedlock-Gate knocked-up kid. Don't dare notice Palin Gives Away Alaska to Oil Lobby Buddies.

    Do NOT mention that Pathetic Sarah Palin is too inexperienced to be Mayor of an in-bred town in Appalachia, much less run the U.S.

    Republicans are obviously damned psychotics. Being Republican is a form of severe mental illness. Are not their sick carcasses supposed to be raptured away soon? Is there any quicker way to wipe out these mental virus carriers??

    Thank you, Nation, for simply quoting these sad fools so we can feel their disease. How do we rid the body politic of this GOP Bubonic Plague??

    Posted by DaVinci_Codex at 09/02/2008 @ 6:35pm

16. You know I'm still confused, no not about the VP's job that's Palin. The Republican's platform is pro-life, until the child is born then it's just another welfare leach; pro-illegal war, because god tells them to; and pro-family, but only if it fits their narrow interpretation of family. I know I'm leaving something out. And didn't I hear an Air America talk show host say that a large faction of the religious right thought McSame was the anti-Christ? Weren't they waiting for a sign from god? Like a hurricane maybe or two hurricanes. Maybe one at the beginning of the convention and one at the end. Oh my................

    Posted by mkpoorman at 09/03/2008 @ 2:36pm