ST. PAUL, Minn. — Gov. Linda Lingle said yesterday that party leaders were right to pare back the Republican National Convention until the impact of Hurricane Gustav on the Gulf Coast is known.

President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney canceled their plans to appear at the convention today as U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the presumptive GOP nominee, positioned the party to respond to the hurricane rather than celebrate his nomination.

"At times like this, our nation does pull together. We are the United States, we're not a bunch of individual states on our own. And everybody is watching this hurricane," Lingle said in a live interview with MSNBC.

"Coming from a state that's used to hurricanes, like Hawai'i, our hearts are with the people there in the South right now. So the festivities, I think, will be toned down, certainly until we know what the impact is going to be of this hurricane, and I think that's rightfully so."

Lenny Klompus, Lingle's senior communications adviser, said the governor has been told to be flexible about her schedule. She is scheduled to speak to the convention tomorrow night.

Rick Davis, McCain's campaign manager, said the GOP would hold a short procedural session at the convention this afternoon and would decide the schedule for the rest of the week on a day-to-day basis depending on the status of the hurricane.

"The reason we're not able to give you more notice on what the convention will do, is because we want to be respectful of the situation that exists in the Gulf," he said. "We can't be predictive of it; by nature it is an unpredictable event and therefore we will take our time and effort to make sure that nothing we do distracts from the activities in the Gulf."

Davis said Republican fundraisers and delegates may use the week to raise money for charities that operate in the Gulf Coast.

"Owing to the fact that the senator has asked us to take our Republican hats off, and put our American hats on, tomorrow's program will be business only and we'll refrain from any political rhetoric that would be traditional in an opening session of a convention."

President Bush and Vice President Cheney had been expected to be the highlights of the convention's first day, with other appearances planned by first lady Laura Bush, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut.

The theme of the first night was supposed to be service and help set the tone for McCain and his vice presidential choice, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Willes Lee, the state GOP chairman, said Hawai'i delegates were awaiting instructions on how the convention will proceed.

"It's unfortunate that the storm had to hit at this time," he said, "but our hearts and prayers are with the people on the Gulf Coast."

Many Hawai'i delegates attended a welcoming reception at the Minneapolis Convention Center last night.