(Newser)
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Republicans officially kicked off their convention today, but only officially. RNC Chairman Reince Priebus gaveled the convention to order before dozens of delegates in a mostly-empty hall today, the AP reports, but 10 minutes and a giant debt clock later he'd adjourned the proceedings thanks to Tropical Storm Isaac. Still, Republicans did their best to carry forward the day's agenda—namely bashing President Obama—in other ways, CNN reports.
"What we would want to do is define what President Obama has done over the last four years, how and why he's failed," one strategist told reporters. Right now, Republicans still plan to go ahead with the remaining days of the convention, he said, weather permitting. But many Republicans are worried about the "optics" of celebrating Mitt Romney while the storm rages, Politico reports. Romney and Paul Ryan each said today that the focus should be on the storm's victims, first and foremost. Meanwhile, Donald Trump's hopes of dropping a "big surprise" on the convention are officially rained out, reports the Huffington Post.
