The Republican National Convention (RNC) is off to a rocky start, with bad weather, last-minute cancellations and unruly delegates causing mass confusion and frustration for convention goers.
Some event cancellations have been due to Hurricane Isaac, which didn't directly hit the Tampa area, but brought unpredictable bursts of rain throughout the first three days of convention festivities. Official convention activities were canceled for Monday over the weekend when the hurricane presented a larger threat than it realistically turned out to be.
Changes in the convention schedule forced some organizations, such as the Harvard University Institute of Politics, to have to cancel events because intended attendees were no longer available to participate. A Harvard event on "The Millennial Impact on the 2012 Election" that was primarily intended for RNC pages, though open to other young convention goers, schedule for lunchtime on Tuesday had to be canceled after hurricane rescheduling moved up the start time of Tuesday's official activities.
Likewise, an Occupy vs. the Tea Party debate to be held at 2010 Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell's "Troublemaker Fest" on Monday night was indefinitely postponed.
Meanwhile, other events, such as the American Conservative Union (ACU) and the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC)'s "Nuestra Noche Midnight in Ybor" were too crowded after convention goers planning to attend events that were canceled flocked to the party that featured former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. Only 30 minutes after the party began at 8pm, a fire marshall closed the doors to additional attendees for an hour.
On Tuesday afternoon when the convention officially opened its doors, the chaos continued, when Ron Paul delegates went rogue, shouting "Let him speak" when Paul came in the room and loudly booed New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu when he nominated Mitt Romney as the official GOP Presidential nominee. Paul supporters tweeted that it was a Romney coronation, not a nomination, despite the fact that delegates could still vote for Paul during the nominating process' roll call vote.
The official presidential nominating process was originally set to occur on Thursday ahead of Romney's speech. But after it became clear that disruptions from the Paul delegates could bring unwanted attention to Romney's big night, the roll call vote was rescheduled for Tuesday.
With the storm dissipating both inside and outside of the Tampa Times Forum at the RNC, the rest of the convention, which ends Thursday, will hopefully continue according to plan.