I bet they're wiping the anxious sweat away from their brows

In collective relief:

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Neither President Bush or Vice President Dick Cheney will attend the Republic National Convention opening night Monday because of Hurricane Gustav.

The president and vice president will either stay in Washington or visit areas that might be affected by the storm, which is expected to make landfall somewhere on the U.S. Gulf coast around noon Monday.

Now if they can only find an excuse for why everybody else is not showing up:

DAYTON, OHIO -- As Sen. John McCain prepares to accept the Republican presidential nomination this week, his party's four-day convention will be notable in part for who isn't attending.

Compared with past GOP conventions, a surprising number of prominent lawmakers and candidates will stay away from the festivities Sept. 1 to 4 in St. Paul, Minn. -- chiefly citing tough reelection battles, previous commitments or other scheduling conflicts.

We've seen what happens when Republicans are given free reign in the halls of power: mismanagement, cronyism, corruption, arrogance, warmongering, corporatism, imperialism, greed. So it's extremely difficult if not impossible to try and position themselves as the party of competence when we're looking at the people who are the cause of eight years of massive and intentional incompetence.

Bush and Cheney are toxic.

But, unfortunately for those who are running for office, they are the logical and ultimate result of the Republican agenda. The Republicans supported the Bush administration and steamrollered anyone who tried to speak against them.

Even if we never see the faces of George and Dick again, what they did, and what the Republicans allowed them to do will NEVER be erased from the Republican party.

The Republican party owns the last eight years.