“Every perfect gift is from above,” the reading from the Letter of James assures us this Sunday. Perhaps some Democrats saw a political gift from above in the fierce storm that has blown through the Gulf of Mexico this week, but Republicans surely didn’t. As Hurricane Isaac came inland Wednesday near New Orleans, the agenda of the Republican convention underway in Tampa had to be revised and the party’s highly scripted plans for showcasing Mitt Romney were hampered by news media attention focused elsewhere.

With conventioneers officially nominating Romney to be the GOP challenger to President Barack Obama, Isaac was making landfall in the Louisiana bayou with strong winds and drenching rains. Widespread flooding was reported in coastal cities.

In New Orleans, streets were flooding, and up to 75 percent of residents were without power, Mayor Mitch Landrieu said: "One of the great challenges with this storm . . . is that it's going so slowly . . . which means that it's going to hover over us," he said Wednesday.

Media coverage of the parallel events highlighted the challenge Republicans face as they hold a political convention while a hurricane pounds New Orleans, with echoes of the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina seven years ago to the day. Major networks Tuesday night featured split-screen coverage, with images of the storm’s devastation on one side and cheering convention delegates on the other.

Sources: Articles by Paul Steinhauser and Kevin Liptak for CNN, Jack Mirkinson
for Huffington Post, and Rick Jervis and Marisol Bello for USA TODAY