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Storm Forces One-day Postponement of GOP Convention


Workers prepare the stage for the Republican National Convention inside the Tampa Bay Times Forum in Tampa, Florida, Aug. 25, 2012.
Workers prepare the stage for the Republican National Convention inside the Tampa Bay Times Forum in Tampa, Florida, Aug. 25, 2012.
Republican officials have postponed by one day the start of their party's presidential convention in Tampa, Florida, moving opening events to Tuesday in hopes of escaping the wrath of an oncoming tropical storm.

A Republican statement late Saturday said the convention will briefly convene Monday and immediately recess until Tuesday afternoon. The notice came as tropical storm Isaac blew across Cuba, tracking to the northwest toward the Gulf coast of Florida as it gathered strength late Saturday.

Elsewhere, presumptive Republican candidate Mitt Romney made an appeal to women entrepreneurs during a campaign rally Saturday in Ohio.

Romney pledged to help businesses led by women if he is elected. He said women in the U.S. are more likely to start businesses than men.

Polls show the Republican trailing President Barack Obama among female voters with the election a little more than two months away. A Republican U.S. Senate candidate angered many voters last week when he suggested women's bodies can prevent pregnancy in cases of what he called "legitimate rape."

President Obama had no campaign appearances scheduled for Saturday. However, he used his pre-recorded weekly address to promote his plans to preserve Medicare, the U.S. health care program for the elderly.

Obama said Republicans are trying to turn Medicare into a voucher program that would not keep up with costs.

Separately, the Associated Press says Obama criticized Mitt Romney's proposals for growing the U.S. economy, saying they were "contradicted by the facts." In an exclusive interview conducted earlier in the week, the president said Romney was embracing economic plans that had previously failed.
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