Rain on the Republican Parade?

No, no, no…This is not happening. The Democrats get ideal weather in an open air stadium of 84,000 people—along with fireworks and the orchestral equivalent of an Oscar-winning Hans Zimmer movie score—and the Republicans get Gustav? This can’t be happening.

McCain and Palin were supposed to be able to ride the wave of their big surprise announcement into the convention and captivate the American TV viewer next week much like the Democrats. Instead, they must take a back seat to the torrential waves and potential devastation that hurricane Gustav is bringing to the Gulf Coast.

We all know that life’s not fair, but can the Republicans get a break? Surely it’s not their “year”—with all that George W. Bush has done to weaken the Republican brand—but could it get any worse?

Already the President, the Vice President and one of the rising stars of the party—Bobby Jindal, Governor of Louisiana—have already bailed out of the convention to tend to more urgent matters. Now, the first day of the convention has been all but canceled, only convening to take care of pertinent business matters.

According to party rules, the convention must take place in order to officially nominate McCain and Palin. The question is, just what form will the convention now take?

McCain has stated that it would be wrong to have a festive “party” atmosphere while Americans are facing a natural disaster. Certainly it would be political suicide for Republicans to look despondent (once again) while families in the Gulf Coast suffer.

Please God, Stop the Rain!
The irony of this entire scenario is that Stuart Shepard, director of digital media at Focus Action, the political arm of Focus on the Family, created a short video which actually asked individuals to pray for rain on the night of Barack Obama’s outdoor acceptance speech at Invesco Field. Meant to be "mildly humorous," in the video Shepard asks viewers to pray for rain of “Biblical proportions.”

Focus on the Family later pulled the video, stating that "We are not about confusing people about prayer." So, there you have it. Some conservatives wished rain upon Obama’s parade and now they’ll have rain on McCain’s. You know, that’s scriptural too. It’s called the law of sowing and reaping. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” (Galatians 6:7)

Personally, I love the wisdom, information and encouragement that Focus on the Family provides as it relates to marriage and family. But this particular action was inappropriate.

Now, on the eve of the Republican national convention, Republicans can only pray that the torrential rains of Biblical proportions that Shepard prayed for in jest, don’t ruin on their parade.