Crist makes videotaped appearance at GOP

Tallahassee, Florida - Gov. Charlie Crist on Monday night made an appearance at the Republican National Convention, on videotape. Crist was third in a lineup of four Republican governors from Gulf States who bowed out of the convention as Hurricane Gustav stormed across the Gulf of Mexico. "Floridians are all too familiar with the destruction that these storms can bring," Crist said. "We stand ready to help."

Crist appeared in a blue polo shirt in front of a marina, where a steady wind was whipping palm trees and gently tossing boats. Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, and Alabama Gov. Bob Riley also made video appearances.

Perry stood sternly on a tarmac in front of a massive, C-130 National Guard cargo plane. Behind him, crew members unloaded hospital patients evacuated from the storm.

First Lady Laura Bush, who appeared as a stand in for President George Bush, introduced the clips. She said her husband skipped a planned convention address to go to Austin and monitor storm response. The clips and Laura Bush's appearance drove home the theme of the day, that Republicans put disaster recovery above partisan politics.

However, she noted that all of the Gulf Coast governors appearing in the video clips were, "strong leaders" and noted that, "of course, they're all Republicans." "First, we're all Americans," she said. "Our shared ideal will always transcend political parties and partisanship," she said.