Hurricane Gustav has sent Republican Party officials scrambling to adjust events for this week's GOP convention.
On Sunday afternoon, presumptive presidential nominee John McCain announced that most Republican National Convention events have been cancelled for Monday, the first day of what was expected to be a four-day gathering.
The convention will be held in St. Paul, Minn., a safe distance away from the storm which is winding its way across the Gulf of Mexico. But McCain has said he doesn't want it to appear his party is celebrating while thousands of people are being evacuated from the path of the hurricane.
"We are facing the possibility of a national disaster," he said during a live video presentation to GOP members gathered in St. Paul ahead of the convention.
"This is the time we have to do away with our party politics and act like Americans," McCain said.
McCain had travelled to Mississippi with his wife Cindy and his newly announced running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. They toured an emergency management centre.
The Republican Party is legally required to hold the convention and so will still conduct official business. It will technically open on Monday, but few other events are slated for the day.
The party also has to formally nominate McCain as its presidential candidate, but that will not happen as scheduled on Monday, party officials said Sunday. They said they are not sure when a roll call will take place.
The White House said Sunday that Bush would not be attending the Republican convention because of Gustav. Neither would Vice President Dick Cheney or several prominent Republican governors.
Bush, who was scheduled to appear at the convention on Monday, said he'll travel to Texas instead. He will visit an operations centre that is coordinating the response to Gustav.
CTV's Tom Clark told Newsnet from the convention site on Sunday that McCain may not even show up to the event.
"The whole idea is that McCain wants to appear to be presidential," he said.
"He's got to appear to be putting his country first, which is the slogan of his campaign. That means he can't be giving a partisan speech attacking Barack Obama and the Democrats while all this is going on."
McCain told GOP members on Sunday that he has spoken to local officials in the region and says they are prepared for the storm.
"We will not see the mistakes of Katrina repeated," he said.
An aircraft is being charted to help any Gulf Coast convention delegates who wish to return home.
With files from The Associated Press
