ST. PAUL, Minn. — It wasn’t quite what they’d planned for the first day, but at least two of Alaska’s delegates to the 2008 Republican National Convention said they thought Monday’s opening day was just right.

Instead of planned speeches from President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, Sen. John McCain and convention organizers instead decided to turn the focus on coping with Hurricane Gustav, which Monday  slammed into Louisiana.

“In light of things going on, it’s completely understandable,” said Steve Colligan, a Wasilla resident and vice chair of the Alaska Republican Party. “In Alaska we have natural disasters every day, it’s just nobody knows about them.” His fellow Mat-Su Valley delegate Dick Stoffel agreed.

“The hurricane disaster — our concentration should be mainly on that,” he said. “[We should] sacrifice our good times here so we could concentrate the focus.”

Stoffel said delegates took up a collection for relief efforts, prayed for the folks in Louisiana and listened to Laura Bush and Cindy McCain talk about the hurricane.

Colligan said the first lady and her would-be successor did a good job of focusing attention on the hurricane.

“It was great. Laura Bush is the first mother. She did a great job,” Colligan said.

And, despite the shortened schedule at the convention, both noted a lot of important work was done on the first day — especially for Alaskan delegates, who more than past years have a real opportunity to spread the word about their state with all the attention they’ve been getting.

That attention was spurred by Friday’s announcement McCain has selected Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has his running mate for vice president.

“People were just overwhelming, the interest in Alaska, the interest in the governor,” Colligan said.

Stoffel agreed that the attention has been overwhelming.

“We’ve all done three, four, five, six interviews all over the world,” Stoffel said. “They asked, yeah, if you knew her, if you thought she would [be chosen], did you think she’d make a good vice president and why.”

A New York Times reporter has been following the delegation around asking questions, Colligan said.

Halfway through the day Monday, the reporter came to the delegation and said, “The story’s changed. It’s about the governor’s daughter,” Colligan said, referencing the news that broke Monday about Bristol Palin’s pregnancy.

Colligan said he was asked when he found out about the pregnancy and told the reporter he’d just heard the news from her.

His view — it’s a private issue and the media should leave it alone.

Overall, though, Colligan said the attention has been a good thing and will likely also be good for Alaska, a state that often is ignored on the national level.

“It’s been great for Alaska,” he said. “It’s been a great opportunity for the delegation to talk to the world.”

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.