The move was an effort to scale back partisan efforts in the midst of a national disaster.
The Democratic National Committee abruptly called off plans Sunday to unveil its St. Paul rapid response operation, canceling a media reception featuring several prominent Minnesota Democrats, including Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Rep. Betty McCollum. The DNC also canceled its daily media briefing for Monday.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families in the region,” said DNC spokesman Damien LaVera.
Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, said he spoke with Louisiana Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu on Sunday morning. He was also briefed by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on the "status of the storm, the evacuation process and coordination between federal, state and local authorities," according to Obama senior strategist Robert Gibbs.
In Lima, Ohio, Obama said after attending services at St. Luke's Lutheran Church that his campaign plans to mobilize its huge e-mail list of supporters to volunteer or send money after the impact of Gustav becomes apparent and authorities know better what kind of help is needed. He said his campaign is coordinating its efforts with local authorities.
Asked if McCain's visit to Mississippi was appropriate, Obama responded, "A big storm like this raises bipartisan concerns, and I think for John to want to find out what's going on is fine.
"The thing that I always am concerned about in the middle of a storm is whether we're drawing resources away from folks on the ground because the Secret Service and various security requirements, sometimes it pulls police, fire and other departments away from concentrating on the job."
"I'm assuming that where he went that wasn't an issue. We’re going to try to stay clear of the area until things have settled down, and then we'll probably try to figure out how we can be as helpful as possible."
If everyone recalls, one of the most devastating criticism of President Bush is that he stayed away from Louisiana after Katrina and viewed the damage from the air. The left howled that Bush was uncaring, he was racist, he was aloof, he wasn't hands on. McCain is showing that he is the opposite. He is basically chucking an opportunity to highlight his campaign by scaling back the GOP convention, probably losing any anticipated bounce in the polls. He is actively trying to get as much information he can of the situation by being on the ground. The time he spent in Mississippi was minimal, and apparently not a security concern. Nor did it cause any delays in evacuations. CNN reported tonight that there are about only 10,000 people in New Orleans tonight. About 1.9 million got out.
But if Obama is easing off of criticizing McCain during this emergency, many of his followers have not. In keeping the spin machine turning, a host of left-leaning bloggers have blasted McCain's trip.
Moria Whelan, writing on the Huffington Post, notes:
Today, Obama stated that he would stay out of the way as Hurricane Gustav once again threatens the Gulf Coast. Even Bush, who three years ago celebrated Katrina's landfall at John McCain's birthday party, is staying away.
What does McCain do? Just like he did when he traveled to a market place in Baghdad, he puts the lives of Americans in danger, and diverts the mission for his own personal political gain. He will travel to the Gulf Coast to give a speech while emergency professionals are urging people to leave. Not only is it political grandstanding, it's a disgusting display of the type of bad leadership we would see if John McCain became President.
The blog Revolution Calling said this:
McCain and Palin were in Mississippi earlier today. Who were they fooling? Exactly why were they there? Are they the governor of any of the Gulf States? No. Mississippi’s Governor, Haley Barbour, invited them. Gee, I wonder whatever for? Could it be for the headlines? So they look like they actually care? Never mind the fact that the two of them there is completely worthless and is just for appearances sake.
Harsh words? Not really. Considering McCain’s comments on MSNBC earlier this afternoon AFTER being “briefed” on the Hurricane and disaster efforts. McCain said (and I’m QUOTING his words):
“The hurricane will make landfall tomorrow at noon”. WRONG. Tomorrow near daybreak.
“The storm will reach tropical status at midnight tonight”. It passed being a tropical storm about a week ago!
My point is that McCain obviously wasn’t paying attention to anything anyone said to him regarding the hurricane. He’s just there for the photo-op and to grab some headlines. And to distance himself from what he was doing when Katrina hit (celebrating his birthday with Dubya)
Another blogger wrote:
"That doesn't mean that McCain and company couldn't score "heckuva job brownie" points by making an appearance at a Jackson, Miss. emergency center. McCain, Sarah Palin, Miss,Gov. Haley Barbour and others showed up to shake hands and generally give the impression that they gave a damn about the people and property in the storm's path. As if they had the power to do anything.
McCain and Palin don't have any authority whatsoever--they are merely political candidates--so this was no more that a cheap opportunity for the old codger to look "presidential" while he got in the way of the folks actually doing something. Palin, for her part, tried to look "veepish". She smiled pretty while she said uplifting things like "I'm so glad you speak English here" and "It's cold where I come from".
Meanwhile, Dick Cheney had already come to Mississippi for some hunting. He's shooting passing refugees from Haley Barbour's front porch.
A pox on all their houses.
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