Let us take a moment to be thankful that Hurricane Gustav narrowly missed causing serious damage to the Gulf Coast. Now, let us take a moment to talk about the disgusting politics that preceded the storm.

Karl Rove, political mastermind behind Bush’s nasty campaigns and now pulling the strings behind McCain, said, “The Republicans can’t seem to get a break when it comes to August and when it comes to the weather,” referring to both Katrina (which hit in August) and Gustav. Oh, yeah, those poor Republicans, bungling the response to Katrina and now having to worry about this new hurricane raining on their convention parade. In an attempt to make up for his birthday party with President Bush as Katrina hit the coast, John McCain flew to Mississippi to “see the preparations under way for Hurricane Gustav.” Senator, that doesn’t do any good except to get you some photo-ops in the area. Awful.

But, now, hold on, the Democrats don’t get off easy. Former DNC chairman Don Fowler said earlier this week that Gustav’s approach during the Republican Convention “just demonstrates that God is on our side.” Similarly, filmmaker and prominent Democrat Michael Moore thinks that Gustav is “proof that there is a God in heaven.” They should be ashamed of themselves.

These kinds of moments remind me why Obama’s appeal to a new kind of politics is so powerful. I’m not sure Obama can claim he will usher in a post-partisan era, but any movement away from this kind of blathering would be refreshing.