President Bush plans to address the Republican National Convention tonight live via satellite in a very abbreviated session in light of Hurricane Gustav.
Bush will speak for about six minutes about Gustav from the White House. He and Vice President Dick Cheney
had been set to speak Monday at the opening of the convention, but cancelled in order to keep abreast of Gustav. Instead, First Lady Laura Bush and Cindy McCain, wife of Sen. John McCain kicked off the convention.Republicans have been challenged by Hurricane Gustav as they sought to strike the perfect balance between addressing concerns about the storm and carrying on with party business.
The satellite appearance, will allow the president to stay above the partisan fray — and quickly get out of the way. Bush
“is a highly unpopular figure outside Republican circles,” writes the McClatchy newspapers, and “even GOP delegates have been largely relieved that the president was not the focus of attention Monday and hope to stress other themes Tuesday.”Also set to speak are the first lady, House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio, Independent Sen. Joseph Lieberman and former Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson.
Bush is expected to “appear” around 9:45 EDT.
Deborah Creighton Skinner is the editorial director for BlackEnterprise.com.