Storm\'s Potential Complicates Democratic Response to G.O.P. Convention

By MICHAEL D. SHEAR

TAMPA, Fla. - With Republicans cautiously proceeding to open their convention on Tuesday, Democrats have decided to move ahead with their no-holds-barred counterprogramming, including a campaign swing by President Obama as Mitt Romney prepares to accept the nomination.

But the president faces the same political challenge that has caused such difficulty for the Republican convention organizers - how to strike an aggressive campaign posture against his rival as a potential hurricane barrels toward the Gulf Coast and New Orleans.

Mr. Obama will travel to Iowa, Colorado and Virginia for more full-throated rallies in the next two days as Democrats plan to unleash a stream of criticism aimed at Mr. Romney in the hopes of disrupting the Republican convention message.

The Democratic National Committee is preparing to run a full-page ad in the Tampa Tribune linking Mr. Romney to Representa tive Todd Akin's comments on rape. A plane will fly over the Republican convention with a banner that says “Romney-Ryan-Akin: Too Extreme for Women.” And a “Super PAC” backing Mr. Obama will release a new television ad attacking the impact of Mr. Romney's policies on the middle class. It will be the group's largest purchase of commercial time.

All of this will come as Republicans attempt to seize the spotlight with speeches by Mr. Romney, Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, the vice presidential nominee, and a series of other high-profile Republicans.

The timing is fraught with political danger for Mr. Obama. President George W. Bush suffered a legacy-tarnishing moment when he appeared uncaring in the face of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina.

But Mr. Bush, who won re-election in 2004, was not forced to juggle an emergency response with the sensitive demands of an intense presidential campaign. Wednesday is the seventh anniversary o f the day in 2005 that Hurricane Katrina made landfall.

Tropical Storm Isaac is not a storm of that magnitude, though the impact of any hurricane on property and lives is hard to assess in advance. It is scheduled to make landfall sometime in the next two days.

Difficult questions loom for Mr. Obama and his political advisers as they plot their attacks. If the storm wreaks havoc on the Gulf Coast, should Democrats ease up? Does Mr. Obama cut short his campaign swing, or continue to rally his supporters against Mr. Romney amid images of mass evacuations and property damage?

And perhaps most vital: When - if at all - should Mr. Obama make a visit to the site of any serious damage by the storm?

Mr. Obama could, in theory, go to the Gulf as early as Thursday or Friday, moving quickly to prove his administration's commitment to the region in the hopes of avoiding the mistakes that Mr. Bush made.

But doing so just as Mr. Romney is accepting the nomina tion of his party on Thursday would be seen as a political punch in the nose. Whatever political benefits Mr. Obama might receive from moving quickly might backfire in this highly-charged political environment.

On the other hand, Mr. Obama could choose to wait before traveling to the Gulf, in deference to the political activities in Tampa. But doing so might open him to charges that he's letting politics get in the way of his presidential duties.

The Democratic offensive will include a new ad by Priorities USA Action that features a small business owner in Massachusetts who says she voted for Mr. Romney and donated to his campaigns. But she says she plans to vote for Mr. Obama in the fall.

“Governor Romney promised that he would bring jobs to this state. By the time Governor Romney left office, we had fallen to 47th in the nation in terms of job growth,” says Olive Chase in the ad. “I feel like I was duped by Mitt Romney.”

The group says the a d will run online and on television in Florida, Colorado, Iowa, Ohio and Virginia as part of a $30 million campaign. The group was criticized over the summer for an ad that featured a worker accusing Mr. Romney's actions of contributing to his wife's death from cancer.

In addition to the newspaper ad and the plane's banner, the Democratic National Committee is also releasing a new web video accusing Mr. Romney of being a “job destroyer.”

Meanwhile, Republicans will show a video on Tuesday at the convention that features voters who supported Mr. Obama in 2008 but say they have decided to vote for Mr. Romney this year.

“I caucused for him and went to the rallies and even donated to his campaign,” one woman says in the video. “I'm not supporting Barack Obama this time because I just don't see things getting better.”