The first day of the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis was over-shadowed by Hurricane Gustav in Louisiana and the Gulf Coast of the United States, turned out to be a fund-raiser for hurricane relief with First Lady Laura Bush and Cindy McCain, wife of the Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain, exhorting the delegates and Party faithful gathered at the Xcel Energy Center to open their hearts and wallets to alleviate the lot of those adversely affected.
Louisiana Governor Piyush 'Bobby' Jindal, who was scheduled to speak at the Convention on Wednesday at prime time, decided not to attend but stay back along with several other Gulf Coast Governors in the wake of the impending storm.
Jindal came in for kudos for what is being described as a command performance in preparing and coordinating--in concert with federal and other state agencies and governors--the evacuation and safety of the people of the in the direct line of Gustav.
Texas Governor Rick Perry in a taped message to the Convention delegates while standing in front of a C-130 transport aircraft that belongs to the Texas Air National Guard that was part of the coordinated efforts among the various states, particularly to help out Louisiana, said, "Bobby's doing a fabulous job of coordinating Louisiana and I can promise you one thing that the people of Louisiana ought to be really proud of this governor and what he is doing."
He said, "You are seeing Republican governors in Republican states doing a fabulous job of taking care of its citizens. That's what we do," Perry said.
Before Perry and other governors from Alabama, Mississippi and Florida came on with their taped messages to the delegates.
Image: A section of the crowd that assembeld for the convention.
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