With sustained winds of 80 miles per hour, Isaac is a hurricane now, bearing down on the Gulf Coast shores of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle -- a slow-moving giant carrying violent thunderstorms along its edges and heavy rainful end to end. Isaac arrives nearly seven years to the day after Katrina. Itbegan pounding the Gulf Coast on Tuesday afternoon with heavy rain and strong winds, gaining strength as the day wore on and prompting warnings about even more dangerous hours ahead.

For a minute there, Florida delegates to the Republican National Convention thought they'd fallen victim to another party punishment: Waiting for buses at noon that didn't show on schedule. But the buses appointed to transport delegates those 30 miles from far-flung Innisbrook Resort to the Tampa Bay Times Forum rolled in eventually. Eager delegates left to melt in steamy 92-degree heat were not amused. A liberal onlooker remarked wryly, "This is the revenge of Jim Greer."

The delegates to the Republican National Convention at the Tampa Bay Times Forum have, as scheduled, overwhelmingly nominated through a state-by-state roll call former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney to be the party standard-bearer for the presidential election. The next step in the process comes two nights from now, when Romney gives his acceptance speech.

Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll read the states delegate county during the roll call of states at the Republican National Convention at the Tampa Bay Times Forum, declaring all 50 voting delegates going for former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney to be the Republican Partys nominee. Carroll asked for a moment of silence for those impacted and to be impacted by Hurricane Isaac. Florida is the Sunshine State, well most times, Carroll said.

Fort Lauderdale resident Sharon Day, the Republican National Committee Co-Chair, noted that elections are often referred to as the most important of ones lifetime. In welcoming delegates to the Tampa Bay Times Forum on Tuesday afternoon, Day declared the 2012 Presidential contest the most important election in our nations lifetime. She called on citizen activists to fight for the restitution of values of the Founding Fathers.

At long last, Mitt Romney should be the Republican Partys official candidate for U.S. President in time for tonight's national networks evening news. Delegates are expected to vote on the party platform at 4:40 p.m., with the roll call of state for the presidential nomination at 5:20 p.m. The usually boisterous process should be completed around 6:30 p.m., as the networks begin their nightly news casts. The other big items of the night, speeches from Ann Romney and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will come in prime time.

Judge Kevin Carroll of the 2nd Judicial Circuit Court of Florida on Monday dismissed without prejudice a motion by the Florida Nurses Association and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) to rehear their suit on plans by the state Department of Corrections to privatize prison health services. Carroll did not rule on the merits of the suit, he simply reaffirmed the suit's previous dismissal, but left the door open for the unions to file a new suit. For background, see previous Sunshine State News coverage:

Republican Party of Florida National Committeeman Paul Senft is stepping down after eight years. The RPOF president Senft with a lifetime achievement award during the Fresh From Florida breakfast at the Innisbrook Resort and Spa in Palm Harbour. Senft said he will remain involved, but allowed to speak a little freer now.

Mitt Romney is expected to be in Tampa on Tuesday, attending the Republican National Convention when his wife Ann Romney takes the main stage, according to The Hill. Mitt Romney, who will be vote by the delegates as the partys official presidential candidate on Tuesday afternoon, is scheduled to give his nomination acceptance speech capping the now shortened convention on Thursday.

Congratulations to Andrew Kaczynski, BuzzFeed Politics' staff writer, who somehow managed to resurrect a tidy collection of Charlie Crist's anti-Obama tweets of 2010. What these tweets do is prove Lenny Curry so right. Here's what the chairman of the Republican Party of Florida urged GOP leaders to do in response to Crist's endorsement of Barack Obama:

The official release of the Republican National Convention schedule for Monday has been updated: TODAY'S SCHEDULE: 2 p.m. Chairman of the RNC Reince Priebus Call to order/start debt clocks 2:10 p.m. Announcement of recess.

The Republican Party of Florida is partnering with the American Red Cross to help provide assistance to potential victims of Isaac, both in Florida and in neighboring Gulf states, a release from the governors office stated.

Gov. Rick Scott will be back in Tallahassee Monday evening for the latest update on Tropical Storm Isaac. With Isaac now spinning through the Gulf of Mexico, the focus for Florida -- outside of restoring areas already hit -- will be the pending impact to the Panhandle. According to a release from the governors office, Scott will be at the State Emergency Operations Center for the 6 p.m. briefing.

Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam announced that Attorney General Pam Bondi and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Miami, will speak Tuesday morning at the "Fresh From Florida" breakfast at the Innisbrook Resort and Spa in Palm Harbor. The daily breakfasts, hosted by Putnam's office, are for the delegates assigned to the resort from Florida and South Carolina.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott may not be the only Republican governor that has to give up stage time at the national convention due to Tropical Storm Isaac. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has declared a state of emergency for his state as the threat looms from the storm that is expected to grow into a hurricane. Jindal is currently scheduled to speak Wednesday night, with the storm expected to reach land at the northern end of the Gulf of Mexico late Tuesday to early Wednesday.