Republican Party delegate Mike Bayham joins the BBC's Max Deveson and Jennifer Copestake to report on the drama, tension and razzmatazz of this week's Democratic Convention.
MIKE BAYHAM: THE SHOW MUST GO ON
1 September: 0320 local time Gustav kills 59 in Caribbean ...
Sir Paul to play Israel concert ...
Democrats meet to nominate Obama ...
Poland rejects US missile shield offer ...
McCartney rocks Ukrainian capital ... (0820 GMT)
Will There Be a Convention? Will There Be a New Orleans?
I am taking part in the pre-eminent event in the Republican political calendar, but I have found myself more concerned with the weather 1,200 miles down the Mississippi River, as Hurricane Gustav churns its way towards the Louisiana coastline.
During Hurricane Katrina, my hometown of Chalmette, a suburb of New Orleans, was inundated with over 4m of water in many areas. Almost that much engulfed my townhouse - I had 30cm of it on my second floor. It's been suggested that Gustav could very well send an even greater volume of water to a city still struggling to find its feet again on the third anniversary of Katrina.
And though St. Paul, Minnesota, is on the opposite side of the US from New Orleans, the same hurricane that threatens Louisiana's largest city also threatens the 2008 Republican National Convention.
Talk of cancelling or shortening the convention has evolved into a plan to limit celebrations. More than a few party leaders feared a potential media backlash and political exploitation by the Democrats of images of Republicans hitting the cocktail circuit while people were stranded on top of their roofs.
I incurred great loss in Katrina, but my view is that the show must go on.
While anachronistic in many ways, party conventions officially name the candidates in the election. It is up to the assembled delegates at the convention to go through the process of actually naming the party standard-bearers in November. So between the partying, schmoozing and socializing important stuff gets done at these events.
Furthermore, there was little for Louisiana delegates to do but remain in Minnesota. Orders for the mandatory evacuation of residents in much of south Louisiana had gone into effect the day before so staying home - hardly a preferable choice due to possible severe flooding and probable loss of electricity for many days - was not even an option.
As it was the Sabbath and I and several members of my state's Catholic delegation felt a need to seek Divine intervention for our home and attended Sunday evening Mass at St Paul Cathedral, a massive granite building capped with an impressive dome. The Archbishop of Minneapolis-St. Paul celebrated the ritual and invited those delegates from other states to attend a modest reception on the cathedral's grounds at the conclusion of Mass.
I also spent some time at Civic Fest, a kind of political junkie conclave in which attendees can view travelling exhibitions pertaining to American history and politics, buy gaudy elephant memorabilia and take novelty pictures inside a faux Oval Office or in front of a mock-up of Air Force One. One does not need be a delegate to attend the event.
The evening closed at a Rock the Vote/Myspace.com event at a club in Minneapolis that was populated by young people who were not necessarily Republicans but were primarily interested in guzzling free drinks and listening to one of the two bands that performed.
Towards the end of the evening I received some positive news on Gustav from home: the storm had not only weakened but its position such that a repeat of Katrina's mess seemed unlikely. With the eye of the storm due pass over Louisiana at 1400 on Monday, even the formal nomination of man for what American's consider the most powerful position in the world didn't seem as important as the weather down south.
MAX DEVESON: A SLIMMED-DOWN CONVENTION
31 August: 1930
This will be a very different convention.
Because of Hurricane Gustav, the Republicans have decided to scale down the event dramatically.
We are going into the first day of the convention not knowing if there will be any convention (in the traditional sense of the word) at all.
All we do know is that at some point over the next four days, John McCain will officially become the Republican Party's presidential candidate.
But as to whether there will be rousing political speeches, passionate policy debates, or riotous parties - we just don't know.
Day One of the convention, which had been scheduled to feature a speech from President Bush, will now consist simply of procedural motions.
Decisions about the schedule on subsequent days will be made each morning, as officials monitor the situation in the hurricane zone.
Senator McCain may even cancel his speech and accept his party's nomination by satellite from the affected area.
What effect will all this have on the Republicans' fortunes?
Well, they will be losing their chance to present their best face to voters - and introduce John McCain's virtually unknown running-mate Sarah Palin to the country.
But slimming down their convention to deal with a natural disaster could help the Republicans by allowing them to appear serious, self-denying and presidential.
And it will also draw attention away from the smallness of their convention, compared to last week's Democratic shindig.
My first thought on entering the Republicans' convention venue (the Xcel Energy Centre in St Paul, Minnesota) was how much smaller it felt than the Pepsi Center in Denver, where the Democrats held their convention, let alone the 75,000 capacity Invesco Stadium, where Barack Obama made his acceptance speech.
There is no doubt that by opting to scale down the convention, John McCain is putting the national interest ahead of his party's interests.
But it might just be that in this case his party's interests actually coincide with his country's interests
OUR DIARISTS
Mike Bayham is a Republican delegate from the state of Louisiana. He is chairman of the New Orleans Young Republicans and has served on the Louisiana Republican State Committee since 1996. He's pledged to back John McCain for the party's presidential nomination, though he personally supported Mike Huckabee in the primaries. "I guess you could call me a Reagan Conservative," he says. "I believe the party should stand by its social conservative base, while also reaching out to new voters. The GOP is known for being too stuffy - I think it needs to be a Big Tent."
At the age of 34, this is already Mike's fourth convention. "On the floor of the convention, if you are a delegate, you are officially on the same par as congressmen, governors and wealthy power brokers. Among the people I have met at previous conventions are a future president (George W. Bush in 1996), Arnold Schwarzenegger and Rudy Giuliani," he says. "I can't imagine any other country having a political event like this."
Max Deveson, 30, is the BBC News website's Washington reporter. He joined the BBC in 2001 to work as a political analyst in Westminster, later moving to the online world news team. He has an obsessive interest in the US and its politics and was particularly excited to land an interview with Ted Kennedy on his first assignment in Washington this year. When not obsessing about US politics, Max enjoys attempting to play Iron and Wine songs on the guitar.
Jennifer Copestake, 25, is an online video producer for World News America. She's been with the programme since its first broadcast in October 2007. After the conventions she'll be video-blogging from a BBC election bus on a 38-day road trip across the country. Jennifer was born in Canada and has reported for the CBC, the Hill Times, the Observer and More 4 News. She's been in Washington since early summer, but will return one day to London, where she lives with her fiance and two cats.
The BBC News website will also publish a diary of the Republican Convention, featuring Louisiana delegate Mike Bayham.
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