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Louisiana delegates torn between home, party

Hurricane Gustav may keep some away from the RNC, while others opt to fulfill their duties and watch from afar.

By STEVE BRANDT, Star Tribune

Last update: August 31, 2008 - 11:34 PM

Louisiana's Republican delegation was clustered around a hotel lobby bar in Brooklyn Center late Sunday morning. Even Ila Hardee, a confirmed nondrinker.

It was TV news, not libations, that drew them: news of the hurricane bearing down on the state they left behind, news that President Bush will go to Texas to monitor the storm.

"It's taking the glitter off, but we have a job to do," said Hardee's granddaughter Leilani Hardee, a 20-year-old alternate delegate. "A lot of people are calling back and forth. They're concerned about their families, especially in the southern part of the state."

That summarizes the mood among Louisiana's delegation, which numbers 45 delegates and 45 alternates. Their heads are in the Twin Cities, but their hearts are still back home.

The McCain campaign Sunday chartered a DC-9 for Gulf state delegates who want to return home or bring their families here. It was to leave Sunday afternoon and return late Sunday night.

Some alternates may get upgraded because of delegates who can't make it. Among the absent is first-term Congressman Joe Harrison, who represents a three-parish area about 60 miles southwest of New Orleans that includes the Hardees.

While he stayed home to monitor emergency preparedness, his wife, Susan, came to Minnesota. "I think he wanted to get me out of the way," she said. "I'm a basket case during storms."

While the Hardees expressed confidence that 22-foot levees in their hometown of Morgan City will hold back the Atchafalaya River, some were second-guessing themselves. "I made the decision to come about 11 o'clock Friday night. I'm starting to regret it now," said Leilani Hardee's friend Michael Tamporello. "We all feel a little useless up here."

Matthew Wallace of Shreveport was keeping in touch with Centenary College, where he's active in student government. But he's staying put here. "I feel like I can best serve our state here in Minneapolis," he said.

Some said their families were already on the move because of evacuation warnings. "Instead of coming to visit in Minneapolis, we're evacuating to Minneapolis," was how national committeewoman-elect Ruth Ulrich of Monroe put it.

Steve Brandt • 612-673-4438

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