TAMPA – Headline speakers for the Republican National Convention will still take the podium, but some time slots have been rearranged.
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By Joe Raedle, Getty Images
People cheer as they listen to speakers Sunday while waiting for former Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, to speak at a rally at the University of South Florida in Tampa.
By Joe Raedle, Getty Images
People cheer as they listen to speakers Sunday while waiting for former Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, to speak at a rally at the University of South Florida in Tampa.
Ann Romney and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley will speak Tuesday. Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee will speak Wednesday. And former Florida governor Jeb Bush will speak Thursday.
Those are some of the biggest changes to a storm-shortened GOP convention after party officials scrambled to shoehorn Monday's key speakers into a three-day schedule.
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Tropical Storm Isaac was lashing the Florida Keys with rain and wind Sunday and is expected to reach hurricane strength as it moves up the northern Gulf Coast, passing west of the convention city of Tampa but close enough to cause high wind and heavy rain.
The convention will still open Monday, but only technically: at 2 p.m. ET, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus will gavel the convention open and then immediately recess.
Other changes are mostly thematic: Monday's message was supposed to be "We can do better," focusing on what Republicans say is President Obama's failed record. That message will now be woven through the rest of the script.
One big effect of the schedule change is that there are fewer prime-time slots to feature the convention's biggest speakers. As Romney pollster Neil Newhouse said, "If it doesn't happen in prime time, it doesn't happen."
But the broadcast networks weren't planning to carry Monday's speeches anyway, and Romney aides said they were able to keep all major speakers in prime time by shortening some speeches and jettisoning some not deemed essential.
A three-day convention is hardly unprecedented. The most recent examples: The Republicans' 2008 convention in St. Paul, which was shortened by Hurricane Gustav, and the Democrats' 2012 convention in Charlotte, which starts after Labor Day next week.
What happens if the storm shifts course and more schedule changes are necessary?
"It's a hypothetical question and I don't want to get into it," said Romney strategist Russ Schriefer. Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul said there's no plan to extend the convention to Friday.
Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, who as mayor of the host city is the one Democrat invited to address the GOP convention, will move from Monday afternoon to Tuesday. He said canceling the first night was "the appropriate decision."
The biggest concern was transportation: In 40 mph winds, the Florida Highway Patrol would close the causeways from St. Petersburg, stranding more than half the delegates and guests at their hotels across the bay.
Buckhorn said the possibility of a storm did come up when Tampa bid for the convention two years ago, but the odds were in the city's favor. Tampa hasn't had a direct hit from a hurricane in 90 years.
His message to delegates hunkering down for a rainy Monday: "Enjoy a day off, spend money, have a hurricane party. We'll send the blenders."
