Anyone want to guess what kind of numbers could come out of this?

TOLEDO, Ohio -- Sen. Barack Obama announced that his campaign would mobilize supporters from his enormous e-mail list to send money or enlist as volunteers once the impact of Hurricane Gustav becomes apparent.

Obama told reporters that his campaign already is coordinating with local authorities. The senator has said he has no plans to go to the region, because of the potential disruption, although Sen. John McCain and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, are heading to Mississippi today.

"We can activate an e-mail list of a couple million people who want to give back," Obama said. "I think we can get tons of volunteers to travel down there if it becomes necessary."

What happens to McCain's post-partisan gesture if all of Obama Nation mobilizes as well?

Another week, another Frank Luntz/AARP focus group of undecided voters--this one in Minneapolis and with some bad news for John McCain: they don't like the choice of Sarah Palin for vice president. Only one person said Palin made him more likely to vote for McCain; about half the 25-member group raised their hands when asked if Palin made them less likely to vote for McCain. They had a negative impression of Palin by a 2-1 margin...a fact that was reinforced when they were given hand-dials and asked to react to Palin's speech at her first appearance with McCain on Friday---the dials remained totally neutral as Palin went through her heart-warming(?) biography, and only blipped upwards when she said she opposed the Bridge to Nowhere--which wasn't quite the truth, as we now know.

Then there was this, from a woman named Teresa, who went to the Democratic Convention as a Hillary delegate and is leaning toward voting for McCain--obviously the target audience for the Palin pick: "His age didn't really bother me until he picked Palin. What if he dies in office and leaves us with her as President? Also she leans toward the rigid right, and I always thought he was a moderate...You know, I change my mind almost every day, but right now I"m wondering where the John McCain I really liked in 2000 went, what happened to the moderate? This John McCain has the look of someone who is being manipulated--probably by Karl Rove."

Teresa still wasn't willing to vote for Obama, whom she considers too inexperienced, but she was clearly wavering. Afterwards Luntz, good Republican that he is, made the case that Palin could win all these people back with a good convention speech, but that seemed far-fetched to me. They really saw this pick as a gimmick--and one that reflected badly on John McCain's judgment.

McCain campaign manager Rick Davis has just announced there will be an abbreviated session tomorrow, probably ending around 5, doing just the housekeeping kinds of things, the legal requirements they must go through for McCain to receive the nomination and qualify for federal matching funds. It is not clear what will happen after that.

I was in downtown St. Paul earlier, and it was nearly empty, except for lots and lots of police.

Years from now, political consultants will be studying how the McCain camp responded to the pending tragedy named Gustav, now swirling in the Gulf of Mexico. The first volley: John McCain promised today to hold something like a non-partisan, non-political start to the convention, which is a bit like making a banana split without bananas, or ice cream. Said McCain:

We must redirect our efforts from the really celebratory event of the
 nomination of president and vice president of our party to acting as all 
Americans. We'll change our program and I'll be announcing details of it in 
the next few hours. But there's very little doubt that we have to go from
 a party event to a call to the nation for action, action to help our fellow 
citizens in this time of tragedy and disaster, action in the form of
 volunteering, donations, reaching out our hands and our hearts and our 
wallets to the people who are under such great threat from this great natural disaster. I pledge that tomorrow night, and if necessary, 
throughout our convention if necessary, to act as Americans not 
Republicans, because America needs us now no matter whether we are
 Republican or Democrat.

Of course, this statement fits nicely with the McCain campaign's central message of being a new kind of unifying Republican. But it's still a major trick to pull off--turning a potential echo of the great Hurricane Katrina embarrassment into a showcase for a new kind of Republican competence. Stay tuned.

The two most powerful ones -- Bush and Cheney -- sure ain't here.

My gut feeling: Gustav, as worried as we all are, is more cover than reason for the absence of the wrong-track twins.

There's talk of somehow altering the convention should things turn really sour, either making it a telethon of sorts or have convention goers stuff ration kits and such. Of the two, a telethon probably makes the most sense, if the worst (i.e., "the same") visuals. Having seen how chaotic it is to organize these people when months of planning has gone into it, I'd sort of hate to see what they look like on the fly.

As McCain and Palin make their way down to Mississippi today they would do well to remember George H. W. Bush's response to Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Most people remember Bush botching the job, prompting one outraged local official to ask “Where's the cavalry?” But at the time Bush's first trip to the Miami area was roundly criticized for coming too soon in the storm's aftermath – and forcing local law enforcement to take much-needed resources away from first responders in order to protect the president. Then Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton jumped on this, pledging to visit only when asked and when he would be sure not to detract from recovery efforts. There is a danger in visiting areas stricken by or preparing for natural disasters. Not only does it leave politicians open to charges that they are politicizing the storm and people's suffering, it can seriously hurt first responder efforts.*

*Good point Jeff Ellerbee.

Update:
Obama was asked about this at an avail after church this morning in Lima, Ohio. His response:

I think for John to want to find out what is going on is fine. The thing that I always is concerned about in the middle of the storm is whether we are drawing resources away from folks on the ground, because the secret service and various security requirements sometimes it pulls police and fire and other departments away from concentrating on the job. I am assuming that where he went that wasn't an issue and we are going to try to stay clear of the area until things have settled down and then we will probably try to figure out how we can be as helpful as possible.

It's shortly before 8 a.m., and I'm at Reagan National Airport getting ready to board my flight to Minneapolis. Last week at this time, this airport was jammed. My Fortune magazine colleague Nina Easton, who traveled at this hour then and is marveling at the contrast now, says they were holding flights, because they couldn't get the throngs of people loaded.

This morning: No lines at security, no waiting at the ticket kiosks. Even the TSA guys are commenting at the emptiness of the place. Maybe the Republicans got there early.

I don't remember a lot of "respecting the office" talk during Clinton's impeachment, but I don't think that's the point here.

“They're friendly,” said Senator Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican and McCain ally who has watched the two men up close. “They don't hang out together. I don't think John's ever been to Camp David. I think it's respectful. President Bush respects Senator McCain, and I think Senator McCain respects the office of the presidency.”

My only question is just exactly how much is Obama paying Charlie "Let me call you from the bus" Black?

She's going to learn national security at the foot of the master for the next four years, and most doctors think that he'll be around at least that long.

HURRY, Sarah Palin, HURRY -- YOU MUST LEARN ABOUT IRAN NOW! THERE IS NOT MUCH TIME LEFT!

Fortunately, most of McCain's foreign policy positions can be memorized by singing them to the tune of popular songs!

UPDATE: A charming Dem operative notes, regarding the "feet of the master" line, "McCain has always reminded me of Yoda."

The Daily reminds us just how far he's come.