President Bush is 'unlikely' to visit Republican convention on Monday, White House says
Keeping a close eye on the progress of Hurricane Gustav, the White House is sending out word this morning that President Bush is unlikely to show up at the Republican National Convention on Monday.
No official word yet, but Deputy White House Press Secretary Scott Stanzel sent out an e-mail with the possible change in plans:
"Due to Hurricane Gustav, President Bush is unlikely to travel to Minnesota for the convention. The White House is working on alternate plans, and we'll provide more information as we have it."
That would leave several possibilities, among them: speaking by satellite or showing up later in the week. But the convention schedule itself is up in the air.
No word on Vice President Dick Cheney's plans. He was also scheduled to speak to the convention Monday, and then leave Washington on Tuesday for Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine and Italy.
Among the issues for the White House: split-screen images of the president speaking to Republican delegates, awash in politics, while the Gulf Coast is awash in floods and debris. Subtext: It would be an obvious reminder of the Bush administration's troubled response to Hurricane Katrina three years ago.
But to put a less political -- some would say cynical -- tint on the story, notwithstanding the communications available to the president anywhere, including aboard Air Force One, it is easier to monitor the storm and the federal response from one place, the nation's capital, rather than jumping around from Washington to Minnesota and then back to the East Coast.
Bush's plans had called for him to head directly to Camp David, Md., after speaking to the convention, arriving there in the middle of the night and remaining out of sight at the presidential retreat throughout the convention week.
The president, meanwhile, spent early Sunday morning out of the White House -- apparently on a bike ride.
He took a 25-minute motorcade to the U.S. Secret Service training facility in Beltsville, Md., a regular venue for his trail rides. Two mountain bikes were on the back of one of the SUVs in the motorcade.
He was planning to spend midday getting an update on the Federal Emergency Management Agency's preparations for the storm.
-- James Gerstenzang
