Gustav's Silver Lining

As it bore down on New Orleans, Hurricane Gustav evoked powerful memories of President Bush's most colossal domestic failure. But it also did Republicans a giant favor by giving them an excuse to knock Bush off the prime-time lineup at their national convention -- and avoid an appearance by Vice President Cheney altogether.

The two deeply unpopular leaders were both set to speak yesterday, but the hurricane led Republicans to curtail opening-night activities.

Bush is now back on the schedule, set to speak through a video hookup at 9:30 p.m. this evening. But the three major broadcast networks are currently scheduled to be showing Big Brother, Grey's Anatomy, and America's Got Talent instead.

The prime spots, after 10 p.m., are going to TV star Fred Thompson, a former senator, and Senator Joe Lieberman, a former Democrat. Cheney is out of pocket entirely -- winging his way to three former Soviet republics to rally anti-Russian sentiment.

Gustav ended up packing only a fraction of the wallop of Katrina, such that Bush this morning felt comfortable enough to turn a status report into yet another pitch for more off-shore oil drilling.

"What happens after the storm passes is as important as what happens prior to the storm arriving. And so our discussion today is about energy," he said. "This storm should not cause the members of Congress to say, well, we don't need to address our energy independence; it ought to cause the Congress to step up their need to address our dependence on foreign oil."

A Sense of Relief

Steven Thomma writes for McClatchy Newspapers: "Although they were reluctant to say it out loud, many Republicans were relieved Monday that President Bush didn't attend the Republican National Convention.

"They didn't like to talk about it on the record, in part because they didn't want to admit an unintended political benefit in Hurricane Gustav, which led both Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney to cancel their scheduled speeches Monday to the convention.

"They also didn't want to admit publicly that a president from their own party is a drag on their prospects.

"Yet inside and outside the convention hall, they mostly agreed that Bush is a political problem for Republican presidential candidate John McCain, and that it was better that TV screens Monday evening didn't feature delegates cheering him on. . . .

"'I don't know a single person who is upset about the fact that they won't be appearing,' said one veteran Republican strategist at the convention, speaking on condition of anonymity to freely question the political value of Bush and Cheney."

Doyle McManus and James Gerstenzang wrote in Monday's Los Angeles Times: "Even before Hurricane Gustav forced Bush's decision Sunday, some Republicans said the president could help his party best by staying home this week.