The mood at the GOP convention: Depressed? What depressed?

 Photo: AFP

With Hurricane Gustav bearing down on Louisiana and other US Gulf of Mexico states, the Republican convention in St. Paul, Minneapolis, opened with a truncated schedule with an opening address by US President George Bush being blown off course by the storm. But despite media reports of a somber mood at the convention, our Observer Tim Demuth says the mood at the Xcel Center is anything but gloomy.

"We're very excited about the McCain-Palin ticket"

Tim Demuth is a financial analyst attending the convention.

There's so much being made in the media that the mood here is depressed - I don't know what they're talking about. There's a lot of excitement and enthusiasm and we're all eager and willing to work to get McCain and Palin into the White House.

Of course it's a bit of a disappointment that all the speakers couldn't show up Monday night because of Hurricane Gustav. It would have been fun to hear President (George) Bush speak. I, in particular, was disappointed that I couldn't hear (Louisiana Governor) Bobby Jindall. He's a rising star in the Republican Party. But that's understandable - he has a lot to do since his state is in the hurricane's wake.

The hurricane has made the mood here more somber, but don't get me wrong: we're very excited about the McCain-Palin ticket."