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against Petra Martic of Croatia, hoping a return to the scene of her greatest triumph will help her end a troubling trend of early exits.
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life with the lonely banging of a gavel in a mostly empty hall, hardly the opening splash intended for the nation. With a sprawling and strengthening storm bearing down on the region, the party hastily rewrote the convention script to present the extravaganza's prime rituals and headline speakers later in the week -- Tropical Storm Isaac willing.
• Nothing was certain Monday as the storm carved an unpredictable path toward the Gulf of Mexico, forcing planners to compress four days of events into three and otherwise improvise.
• It was a complication, at best, for a party determined to cast the close election as a referendum on President Barack Obama's economic stewardship and Romney as the best hope for jobs and prosperity.
• From New Hampshire, where he and his wife, Ann, rehearsed their convention speeches in a high school auditorium, Romney expressed worry about the people in Isaac's way while predicting a "great convention" nonetheless. Other officials put on a brave face, too.
• But Sally Bradshaw, a Florida Republican and longtime senior aide to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, was not so sanguine. "It's a mess all around and it's fraught with risk," she said. "It's not good for anybody -- particularly the people impacted by the storm."
• ___

• KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) -- Tropical Storm Isaac churned toward the northern Gulf Coast early Monday and promised to give the Republican National Convention a good drenching after lashing the Florida Keys and Miami area with wind and rain.

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