Politics creeps back into convention

"ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Hard to restrain, politics unmistakenly came creeping back into the Republican National Convention as Hurricane Gustav delivered a softer-than-expected blow on the Gulf Coast. As the storm winds died down, the political winds picked up.

Monday was the day in which GOP presidential candidate John McCain said Republicans should do away with party politics and act simply as Americans in a time of crisis.

But political conventions are all about, well, politics, and telling delegates to refrain from partisanship is like instructing a child to walk through a candy store without begging for a treat.

So there were digs and jabs and pokes aimed at Democratic nominee Barack Obama.

Laura Bush succumbed to the temptation to nudge Obama. So did former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and others. One-time California Gov. Pete Wilson acknowledged the difficulty of following McCain's orders to set politics aside.

'I confess to you, I am a lesser mortal. I find that difficult to do,' Wilson told California delegates. 'But I will try.'"