I reprint this post from TPM election central (a must-read blog for political junkies):

Priorities, priorities.

Check out this Karl Rove quote buried in a Fox News article about the threat Hurricane Gustav poses to the GOP’s convention plans:

“The Republicans can’t seem to get a break when it comes to August and when it comes to the weather,” said Rove, a FOX News analyst. “I know this is being thought a lot about in Washington and at the White House and discussed and I suspect they will monitor it carefully and figure out what to do.”

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Yeah, Katrina (which hit in August 2005) was really rough on those Republicans, no question about it.

You can’t make this stuff up!

Senior Republicans said images of political celebration in the Twin Cities while thousands of Americans flee a hurricane could be dubious. “Senator McCain has always been sensitive to national crisis,” said McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds …

In fact, on the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, both Bush and McCain were AWOL. Even better:

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[Former White House spokesman Scott McClellan] suggested that McCain could benefit politically from such a scenario: It would allow Bush to mount an effective GOP response to a disaster, while removing the unpopular president from the convention roster. “It could be a two-fer,” McClellan said.

When it’s a plus that your party’s President doesn’t show up — and you’re counting on confidence from that same president — you got problems.

This post was created for ClimateProgress.org, a project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund.