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Unfortunately no matter how the Republicans handle the convention during this hurricane, they will open themselves up to criticism.

If they hold the convention as scheduled, they will be perceived as being uncaring and callous to the people in the hurricane's path. Furthermore, networks will keep cutting away from the convention to give updates on the hurricane and the contrasting images of people dying and losing their property with the Republicans "partying" up in Minneapolis is going to come across as awful. It may not be fair but it is what it is.

On the other hand, if the Republicans go to the other extreme and "move" their convention to New Orleans, they will be perceived as trying to make political hay out of a bad situation and not only exploiting the victims but seen as getting in the way of rescue operations. Not a good plan either.

But this unfortunate predicament does give the Republican party a chance to show what leadership is. After all, if you are going to lead this country, you are often going to have "no-win" situations like this.

I am sure that there are some very bright people in the GOP discussing the options right now and based on what I've seen of the McCain campaign the past couple of months, I'm confident that they will do what is best.

If I was the decision maker in all of this, I'd have the convention go on in Minneapolis but would cut out almost entirely the political speeches the first day or two. Just take care of the convention business. I would keep Bush and Cheney in Washington and keep McCain and Palin in the Gulf area, not just sitting around but actually assisting in the relief effort. Maybe they can operate out of Bobby Jindal's emergency HQ. Then on Thursday night (after the storm is long gone), they can fly to Minneapolis that evening and give their acceptance speeches - one after the other. (As opposed to giving them separate nights). That would be sure to guarantee a huge TV audience for Palin as McCain would immediately follow her with his acceptance speech.