GOP solicits Gustav assistance as convention gets under way

Lingle offers sharp retort to queries on inexperience

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ST. PAUL, Minn. » Republicans, determined to propel John McCain to the White House, opened their storm-shortened national convention yesterday.

With their plans for opening day of the Republican National Convention dashed, first lady Laura Bush and Cindy McCain instead appealed to GOP faithful to donate time and money to those caught in Hurricane Gustav.

Gov. Linda Lingle stumped for McCain in meetings with delegates from outside Hawaii. The Hawaii Republican defended McCain's vice presidential pick, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, as having more impressive experience than both Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

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ST. PAUL, Minn. » Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle was among the dozens of surrogates who fanned out across the Twin Cities in support of presumptive GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain as a scaled-back program for the Republican National Convention got under way yesterday.

The schedule was pared down at the request of McCain, who said the convention should not go on in its traditional celebratory format with the potential for serious damage from Hurricane Gustav, which made landfall in the Gulf Coast region earlier yesterday.

With President Bush and Vice President Cheney forgoing the convention for official business, first lady Laura Bush and Cindy McCain, the candidate's wife, took center stage and turned the opening of the convention into an impromptu telethon to raise money for storm victims.

"I would ask that each one of us commit to join together to aid those in need as quickly as possible," McCain said. "As John has been saying for the last several days, this is a time when we take off our Republican hats and put on our American hats."

She offered a Web site, www.causegreater.com, where people could get more information on how to help storm victims.

Similar scenes played out across the Twin Cities, as surrogates visited various caucus sites and delegation meetings to rally support for McCain and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

Lingle attended a luncheon for the Nevada and Guam delegations, where about 80 attendees raised $1,001 by passing a hat around for hurricane victims.

Lingle ratcheted up the rhetoric for McCain, focusing on the lack of experience on the Democratic ticket of Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

Speaking about the various domestic and international media interviews she did yesterday, Lingle noted how most of her interviewers tried to make a point about Palin's short time in office as governor and her mayoral duties over a small Alaska town.

"I said, 'Oh, I find that so amusing,' because neither Obama nor Biden has been the CEO of anything at any time," Lingle told the crowd. "They haven't been the mayor of a midsized city, big city, small city, red, blue - any city.

"So if anyone raises this issue to you," she added, "Ask them, 'Well, which city was Obama mayor of? How about Biden, where was he governor of? What organization did he head? Where was he a CEO?' Nobody can answer you back at that point, because the facts are clear: Neither of them has any experience whatsoever in balancing a budget and dealing with some tough issues with the resources you have at your disposal."

Other surrogates for McCain included Guam Gov. Felix Camacho and former Vietnam prisoner of war Jerry Coffee of Hawaii.

Meanwhile, convention delegates took care of the minimal business needed to start the process of nominating McCain and Palin as the party's presidential ticket for 2008.

Business included agreeing to the convention rules, adopting the party's platform and electing the convention officers. U.S. Rep. John Boehner, an Ohio Republican and the House minority leader, was named convention chairman.

The session, originally scheduled for 2:30 to 10 p.m., was cut to about two hours as convention officials trimmed the program in deference to the potential disaster posed by Gustav. Convention business is being decided on a day-to-day basis.

Lingle, who was scheduled to address the convention tonight, has been told to be flexible in case she is needed to speak on another night, her office said.