ST. PAUL, Minn.-Hurricane Gustav forced Republicans to restructure Monday’s convention schedule to avoid appearing insensitive, but the parties kept on going.

Across the Twin Cities, corporations – almost all that lobby Congress and state governments – and interest groups are going ahead with hundreds of parties to fete lawmakers – from country music concerts to exclusive dinners at posh restaurants.

For example, AT&T, the telecom giant that earlier this year persuaded Congress to grant it immunity from warrantless wiretapping lawsuits, hosted parties for delegations from South Carolina, Indiana and others.
Events hosted by railroads, pharmaceutical companies, realtors, beer companies and dozens of other industries that lobby Congress are planned through the week.

The events provide elected officials with free drinks and food. They provide lobbyists easy access to lawmakers to talk up favorable legislation.

Recent changes in federal ethics laws have made it harder for lobbyists to throw parties for senators and representatives than at past national political conventions. But the new rules still leave plenty of room for schmoozing, said Sheila Krumholz, director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a campaign finance watchdog group.

The permissible dollar value of goodie bags handed out to lawmakers at many parties has dropped from $50 to approximately $10.

“So, instead of getting a primo cigar in their (goodie) bags, you get a lesser cigar,” she said.

Corporations with interests in federal and state regulations sponsor receptions and other parties as part of an overall strategy to influence policy that includes targeted campaign contributions, industry political action committees and maintaining a lobbying presence on Capitol Hill.

“These parties aren’t charity. They are a vehicle that allow them to gain access to members of Congress,” and other elected officials, Krumholz said.

Because of Hurricane Gustav, McCain campaign manager Rick Davis asked corporate sponsors Sunday to make sure that the events were “respectful.” He also asked them to consider adding a fundraising element to the parties to collect money for storm victims.

Many did. At an AT&T event held at a British pub in Minneapolis Sunday night, attendees were handed a card with instructions on how to send money via text message to the Red Cross.

At the event – held for South Carolina delegates – state GOP chairman Katon Dawson also set out big red buckets to collect cash for the Salvation Army’s hurricane response activities.

South Carolina Republicans plan to continue raising money at all delegation parties this week, he said.

“Being from South Carolina, we understand the carnage a hurricane causes… Hurricane victims, it doesn’t matter if they’re Democrats or Republicans. They’re Americans,” Dawson said.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Republicans, determined to propel John McCain to the White House, opened their storm-shortened national convention on Monday amid distractions involving running mate Sarah Palin. Police made more than 50 arrests in the surrounding streets as anti-war protests turned violent.

Delegates had scarcely settled into their seats when it was disclosed a lawyer had been hired to represent the Alaska governor in an investigation of her firing of the state’s public safety commissioner. The other disclosure was personal, not political – the pregnancy of her 17-year-old unmarried daughter.

The convention’s opening session was abbreviated as Hurricane Gustav hit the Gulf Coast, sparing New Orleans the type of damage inflicted by Hurricane Katrina almost exactly three years ago.

President Bush skipped his planned speech to go to disaster and relief centers, determined to avoid a repeat of the mismanagement of Katrina.

McCain was in Waterville, Ohio, where he helped pack supplies to be sent to the Gulf.

Both men’s wives sparked cheers when they appeared before the delegates, shunning politics to urge contributions to help storm victims.

Virtually the only political business of the convention’s 2½-hour session was approval of a platform that sidestepped the Iraq War, one of the key issues in the campaign between McCain and Democrat Barack Obama.

“The waging of war – and the achieving of peace – should never be micromanaged in a party platform. … In dealing with present conflicts or future crises, our next president must preserve all options,” it said.

Outside the Xcel Center was a reminder of the passions the war stirs. Protesters smashed windows, punctured car tires and threw bottles, and there were reports that delegates from Connecticut were attacked as they stepped off their bus to attend the day’s convention session.

Police used pepper spray to disperse demonstrators, and reported making at least 56 arrests.

The convention was less than 15 minutes old when Mike Duncan, chairman of the Republican National Committee, asked delegates to use their cell phones to text a five-digit code that would make a donation to the Red Cross for victims of the hurricane.

It was a theme that first lady Laura Bush and Cindy McCain picked up more than an hour later.

“This is a time when we take off our Republican hats and put on our American hats,” McCain said.
 
Added the first lady: “Our first priority for today and in the coming days is to ensure the safety and well-being of those living in the Gulf Coast region.”

Behind the two women was a giant screen showing the names of state-approved charities in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
  
There was money news of a more conventional type, when John McCain’s aides announced he had raised at least $47 million last month for the fall campaign against Democratic rival Barack Obama. It was the largest monthly amount to date for the GOP candidate.

While the opening day convention program was shorn of political rhetoric, aides said McCain was likely to deliver his nomination acceptance speech as scheduled on Thursday.

They added they would determine the podium schedule for the balance of the week on a day-to-day basis.

Some Republicans were eager for a more traditional convention week.

“When the storm passes and we can see that there are enough resources and that lives are not in danger any longer and help is on its way or in place, then that’ll be the green light for us to enjoy the celebration we’re all here for,” said Kelly Burt, a delegate from California.
 
But what there was revolved around Palin, little know nationally until McCain named her his running mate last Friday.

An attorney has been hired to represent Palin in the legislature’s investigation into the dismissal of public safety commissioner Walt Monegan, who was dismissed after he refused to fire a state trooper who had divorced the governor’s sister.

“We have been hired to represent the Governor and the Governor’s Office” in the investigation, wrote Anchorage attorney Thomas V. Van Flein.

“We fully welcome a fair inquiry into these allegations. … Please know that we intend to cooperate with this investigation,” the lawyer said.
  
As for Palin’s daughter, McCain’s campaign aides said Monday’s statement was issued to rebut Internet rumors that the governor’s four-month-old baby was, in fact, daughter Bristol’s child.

“Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family,” Sarah and Todd Palin said in the brief statement.

The father was identified in the statement as Levi, but the campaign said it was not disclosing his full name or age or how he and Bristol know each other, citing privacy.

Aides said Palin had informed McCain about her daughter’s pregnancy before she was picked to be his running mate. At several points during the discussions, McCain’s team warned the governor that the scrutiny of her private life would be intense and that there was nothing she could do to prepare for it.

“Senator McCain’s view is this is a private family matter. As parents, (the Palins) love their daughter unconditionally and are going to support their daughter,” said McCain spokesman Steve Schmidt.

“Life happens,” he added.

Prominent religious conservatives, many of them long cool to McCain’s candidacy, issued statements of support.

James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, commended the Palins for “for not just talking about their pro-life and pro-family values, but living them out even in the midst of trying circumstances.”

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Some protests near the site of the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota, have turned violent.

Police say protesters smashed windows, punctured car tires and threw bottles during an anti-war march. Police used pepper spray in some confrontations with demonstrators and arrested five. They’re accused of setting fire to a trash bin and pushing it into a police car.

Police estimate there were 8,000 to 10,000 protesters.

Instead of the single coherent march that organizers had hoped for, fringe groups raised havoc along the streets between the state Capitol and the Xcel Energy Center where the convention is taking place.

The arrests occurred several blocks from the arena.

Some marchers smashed windows of cars and stores, tipped over newspaper boxes, pulled a trash bin into the street, bent the rear view mirrors on a bus and flipped heavy stone garbage bins on the sidewalks.

They were followed by teams of riot officers carrying batons, rifles and guns that could be used to shoot tear gas.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Among Republicans here for their national convention, the initial surprise – if not shock — of John McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate quickly morphed into near elation.

Many of the delegates are social conservatives who had worried that McCain might  pick a supporter of abortion rights or gun control or other moderate positions.

At a welcome party for delegates Sunday night, Theresa Padgett of Brandenburg, Ky., told me about riding a campaign bus to Dayton, Ohio, Friday to be in the crowd when McCain unveiled his choice.    

“On the way, I was kind of nervous. I didn’t know who he was going to pick,” she said. “And then he introduced a lady I’d never even heard of.”

But as Palin, the governor of Alaska, spoke, Padgett was so happy she cried.     

“She stood for everything I do!” said Padgett, whose family owns apartments and car washes in Brandenburg.

“From being a lifetime member of the NRA to being pro-life to hunting and fishing to being a hockey mom and playing basketball herself, to her and her husband having five children, the baby with Down syndrome….

“I don’t think he could have picked a better one. If I could have written down everything I wanted (in a vice presidential candidate), she has it all,” Padgett said, tears again welling in her eyes.

Palin also faces a situation common to many families in both parties. She announced Monday that her unmarried, 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, is about five months pregnant and plans to marry the baby’s father. McCain’s aides said he knew about the pregnancy when he chose her.

When a presidential candidate chooses a running mate, he can go with a campaign choice, someone he thinks will help him win the election, or he can go with a governing choice, someone to help fill out his knowledge gaps after the election, or he can try to find a combination of the two.

Palin, 44, governor of Alaska for less than two years, is a risky bet in the first category. She’s long on spunky personality, Western sensibilities and hobbies and conservative values — but short on governing.

Republicans here are energized and excited. They love that Palin is a reformer who has stood up to Big Oil and the “Bridge to Nowhere.”  They’re untroubled that she lacks foreign policy experience, saying McCain will find people who can bring Palin up to speed.

Problem is, McCain is 72, and Palin would be a heartbeat away from the presidency on Jan. 20, 2009.

 Republicans counter that McCain’s mom is in her 90s and going strong. They say Palin’s meager experience – she was mayor of Wasilla, a town of under 10,000 — is actually greater than Barack Obama’s. But he was a community organizer, then a state senator in the Illinois legislature for seven years before being elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004.

McCain, with 30 years in the nation’s capital, has spent months reassuring voters that he has the judgment and experience a president needs. In his first big decision, though, he undercut his own argument.

 It’s good for McCain that the party faithful are delighted with his choice. But Republicans  send a confusing message when they assert that Washington experience is irrelevant for the president.

WASHINGTON-The Democrats had their fun in Denver. Now the Republicans get a week in the spotlight.

The GOP convention kicks off in St. Paul tomorrow and runs through Thursday, when John McCain officially accepts his party’s nomination in a prime-time speech.

Between now and then, there’s plenty worth paying attention to. Here are five things to watch for:

Disunity

Much was made last week of the Democratic party split between supporters of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. McCain, who crafted an image as a maverick for not always toeing the party line, has his own intra-party issues.

McCain and evangelical Christians – a key GOP voting block that helped put President Bush in office twice – have never fully warmed to each other. Though he’s a Christian, religion has never been a big part of his identity and McCain has often seemed uncomfortable talking about his faith.

Since winning the nomination, though, he’s courted key evangelical leaders and reached out more directly to this group. He will likely need a strong turnout from evangelicals to win in the fall, and many will be watching his speech for a sign that he truly cares about their cause. If he fails to make a strong case, some could simply stay home on Election Day.

Who Is That?

McCain surprised pretty much everyone by choosing Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his number two. Much of America – the lower 48 states – will hear her speak for the first time Wednesday night.

McCain has attacked Obama for months as too inexperienced to be president. In choosing Palin, he selected someone who has been a governor for less time than Obama has served in the Senate.

Before that, she was mayor of a town with less than 10,000 people. Besides using the primetime speech to introduce herself to America, Palin will likely make a case for why she is ready to be commander-in-chief should something happen to the 72-year-old McCain.

Out With the Old

President George Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and First Lady Laura Bush are all slated to speak on Monday night. The Bush administration’s approval ratings are extremely low and Democrats argue a McCain victory would represent a third Bush term. The Bush appearance presents problems for Republicans. While he remains popular with much of his own party, a speech that highlights similarities between McCain and Bush could turn off independents and conservative Democrats.

In With the New

Though she has been on the campaign trail for months, would-be first lady Cindy McCain remains unknown to most voters. She rarely gives interviews and has resisted the spotlight to a greater degree than wives of other presidential nominees.

Her considerable wealth from her family’s beer distribution business has garnered much attention in recent weeks, after her husband revealed he did not know how many houses the couple owned.

Her speech Wednesday gives her an opportunity to define herself and her husband on her own terms. Expect to hear a lot about her charity work and not much about real estate.

Not Just Any Old Joe

The political arc of Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut presents perhaps the most interesting subplot of the convention. He was the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2000. In 2006, his support of the Iraq war led to his loss in the Democratic primary.
He left the party, ran as an independent and returned to the Senate.

He almost always votes with Democrats. But he’s extremely close to McCain. McCain was strongly considering picking him as vice president, and Lieberman’s campaign appearances help McCain argue that he has support from more than just Republicans. Lieberman is slated to address the convention Monday.

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On the Web, Republicans are offering a live video feed, daily video recaps and speech texts at GOPConvention2008.com. Also visit MGWashington.com for continually updated convention coverage.

Here are three little words you’ll hear over and over during the Republican National Convention that starts Monday in St. Paul: ready to lead.

No, it’s not exciting. It’s not a teary Bill Clinton mouthing “I love you” to Hillary during her speech at last week’s Democratic National Convention. Nor is it the adulation Democrats showered on their presidential nominee Barack Obama in Denver.

And that suits the Republicans fine.

If the Democrats’ convention was mostly about larger-than-life egos and healing the party’s rift, the Republicans hope their convention turns the conversation to who’s right for the Oval Office.

They believe they can sell voters on John McCain as ready to lead the country. They’ll tout his experience and hammer at Barack Obama as unprepared.

That leads to interesting questions to ponder during the GOP’s convention. What does it mean to be ready to lead the country in 2009? How important is the resume and experience and how important is vision and the ability to inspire?

Democrats have cast McCain as President Bush’s heir, and Republicans have painted Obama as a celebrity who lacks experience. In new ads, the McCain campaign is using Obama’s running mate Joe Biden’s remarks when he ran against Obama in the primaries.

“I think he can be ready, but right now I don’t believe he is,” Biden said then, and, “The presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job training.”

Republicans started laying the groundwork for their transformative convention during the Democrats’ week in the sun. In a series of media interviews, high-profile Republicans in Denver stressed in nearly the same words that McCain is “tested, ready and right on the issues.”

They’ll try to finesse the issue of McCain’s age – he just turned 72 – into an advantage. People may feel more safe with a grandfatherly figure in the Oval. Even more challenging is the argument that Washington is broken and McCain, a long-time Washington veteran, can fix it.

Much of the pitch is standard Republican fare. McCain wants lower taxes, less government spending and a strong military, and he’s better able to deal with the Russians, Iraq and Iran, his backers say.

The Democrats may yet rue giving away half their convention to the Clintons with primetime speeches on two of the four nights. The Republicans will hear from President Bush and Dick Cheney, but they’ll get the unpopular duo out of town after the first night. Expect all four nights to be devoted to raising doubts about Obama, his character and his abilities.

The overall theme of the Republican convention is “Country First,” and each night will highlight aspects of McCain’s biography, including his years as a POW in Vietnam and in the Senate. They’ll likely try to paint McCain as a reformer and Obama as a radical.

In a sign of things to come, Republicans were discounting Obama’s Invesco Field extravaganza even before it happened. Romney said that “when the issues are not with you, you go with celebrities and fanfare.”

St. Paul, Minn. — Population 277,251

The percentage of eligible voters (citizens 18 and older) in Minnesota who were registered in the last presidential election – 84.5 percent

Percentage of St. Paul residents age 25 and older who are high school graduates or higher – 87.4 percent

Percentage of St. Paul residents age 25 and older who have a bachelor’s degree or higher – 37.9 percent

Percentage of the population who are foreign-born – 13.8 percent

Percentage of the population who are veterans – 8.1 percent

Percentage of Ramsey County, which encompasses St. Paul, who are Hispanic or Latino – 6.3 percent

Percentage of Ramsey County who are white and not Hispanic – 72.8 percent

Percentage of Ramsey County residents who are black or African-American – 9.6

Percentage of Ramsey County residents who are Asian – 8.7

Percentage of Ramsey County residents who are American Indian or Alaska Native – 0.9

Percentage of Ramsey County residents who are Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander – 0.1

Median age of Ramsey County residents – 37.1 years

Percentage of the Ramsey County population under 18 years old – 24.3

Percentage of the Ramsey County population 65 years and older – 12.7

Percentage of the St. Paul population 5 and older who speak a language other than English at home – 22.9

Percentage of St. Paul families that are married-couple families with their own children under 18 years – 29.5
Percentage of females 20 years and older who have never married – 32.6

Percentage of males 20 years and older who have never married – 35.3

Mean travel time to work for St. Paul residents – 21.2 minutes

Median household income in St. Paul – $43,654

Percentage of individuals in St. Paul who are living in poverty – 20.9

Number of employees in the Health Care and Social Assistance sector, which employs the largest number of people in Ramsey County – 49,894

Annual payroll for the Health Care and Social Assistance sector in Ramsey County – $1.9 billion

The number of Health Care and Social Assistance establishments in Ramsey County – 1,708

MINNEAPOLIS – While Democrats convene in Denver, Republicans are meeting in Minneapolis, where they’re hashing out their party’s platform ahead of next week’s convention in St. Paul.

The GOP platform committee is debating election principles influenced by their conservative base as well as by presidential candidate John McCain.

It’s taking a tough line on abortion and immigration while weighing an energy policy that would acknowledge — if grudgingly — the human imprint on climate change.

Nothing written into the platform will tie McCain’s hands in the campaign, and it’s questionable whether he’d pay much attention to it. Presidential candidates often don’t.

But the two days of platform hearings are focusing the party on a review of what it stands for and exposing familiar divisions between conservative and moderate elements.

By MARSHA MERCER
Media General News Service

Here come the 2008 Democratic and Republican National Conventions – and the quadrennial whine.

You’ve heard it: The conventions are a big waste of time and money. They don’t pick the presidential nominees, and platform battles are rare. They’re orchestrated shows or, worse, infomercials.

The critics are right, to a point. There’s no suspense about the presidential nominees, harmony is the goal, and the conventions are heavily scripted. So what?

The Democratic convention that starts Monday in Denver and the Republican convention that convenes on Labor Day in St. Paul are neither pointless nor irrelevant.

Not required by the Constitution, national political conventions survive after 176 years because they still serve a purpose. Their role has evolved since the election of 1832. Today they rally the major parties and give them time in the public eye to express – and sell – their values and their presidential nominees. The conventions signal that it’s time to focus on the fall election. They encourage us to consider who we are as Americans and how we want to go forward.

While the parties do try to control every image and moment, they simply can’t. Protesters outside and emotions inside are wild cards. In the age of 24-7 blogging and unblinking cameras, the unexpected is almost inevitable.

The Democratic and Republican conventions four years ago each cost about $90 million, and more will be spent this year. Thousands of journalists, including a team from Media General, will cover the conventions. Our goal is to take our readers, viewers and Web visitors inside so they’ll be educated consumers of the political show. If the Olympics are about athletic prowess and form, the conventions are about putting forth the candidates’ style and message in political theater.

These conventions are historic, and both promise drama.

During their four days in Denver, the Democrats will try to keep the focus on nominee Barack Obama even as Hillary and Bill Clinton swan on stage and she fosters catharsis for her supporters. How will Obama, the son of a Kenyan and a Kansan, reassure voters that he’s “one of us” and not a risky choice? Meanwhile, Democrats also promise to get tough on McCain.

In St. Paul, Republicans will use their four days to make the case for John McCain in the White House during turbulent global times – without tying him to its current unpopular occupant. President Bush will speak the first night. How will McCain, who’s vying to be the oldest first-term president in history, reassure voters that he’s not too old at 72? Will McCain poke conservatives in the eye with his choice of a running mate? The GOP is unlikely to mince words about Obama.

Conventions are the off-Broadway stage of American politics. Few knew Obama until he spoke at the Democratic convention just four years ago. McCain made his national debut on the 1988 Republican convention stage. Who will be this year’s surprise star? He or she could be a contender in 2012.

So, bring on the conventions. They’re everything the critics say – and more.