ST PAUL - A SUBDUED Republican convention opened here on Monday, blown off course by Hurricane Gustav and revelations that the teenage daughter of vice presidential pick Sarah Palin is pregnant.

With the nation preoccupied by the hurricane hammering Louisiana three years after the catastrophe wrought by Katrina, the Republicans gavelled open their convention shorn of the first day's usual pomp and ceremony.

100 held after protests ST PAUL - POLICE said they arrested about 100 people Monday following violent protests in conjunction with the Republican party convention. 'About 100 have ben arrested and we are still booking in people', a staff at the Ramsey County jail in St Paul, Minnesota, told AFP. ... more

The curtailed four-day gathering will rob presumptive nominee John McCain of precious primetime television slots to make his case to US voters, a week after his Democratic rival Barack Obama's spectacular jamboree in Denver.

And two new polls suggested that Mr Obama had enjoyed a significant bounce since making history by becoming the first black presidential nominee of a major US party.

A USA Today-Gallup poll said Mr Obama had garnered 50 per cent, compared to 43 per cent for Mr McCain. While a new CBS/New York Times poll put Mr Obama and his vice presidential pick Joseph Biden up 48 per cent to 40 per cent, ahead of the November 4 election.

Republicans were meanwhile struggling to come to terms with the news that Mrs Palin's 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, is pregnant.

Mrs Palin, 44, a devout Christian and pro-life advocate, said Bristol would have the baby and marry its father.

But the news thrust the Alaska governor back into the spotlight after her surprise choice by Mr McCain last week electrified the Republican Party's social conservative base, in particular evangelical Christians.

Early signs suggested that the power base was still intact for Mrs Palin despite the revelations about her daughter.

'Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned,' Mrs Palin said in a statement with her husband Todd.

'We're proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support,' they said.

But in yet more woes for Mrs Palin, her office confirmed Monday that she had hired a private lawyer to represent her in an investigation over allegations arising from the sacking earlier this year of the state's public safety commissioner.

The probe was triggered after Internet reports that Walt Monegan was removed because he refused to fire a state trooper who was the governor's ex-brother-in-law, that the Palin family regarded as a 'loose cannon'.

Mrs Palin, who Democrats have savaged as too inexperienced in foreign policy to serve a 'heartbeat' away from the presidency, was in the convention city of St Paul on Monday with no public engagements scheduled.

McCain's campaign also unveiled its August fund-raising figures, saying it had stuffed US$47 million (S$67 million) into its coffers in what would be the best monthly haul of his campaign so far.

Mr McCain, 72, earlier flew into Philadelphia, as he monitored the fallout from Hurricane Gustav hammering the Louisiana coast, which prompted the Republican candidate to severely curtail the convention's opening day.

First Lady Laura Bush and Mr McCain's wife Cindy gave speeches to kick-start a emergency fund-raising drive as the political jamboree turned into a Gustav relief rally.

And thousands of protestors rallied outside the convention center calling for an end to the war in Iraq. The march passed off largely peacefully, with only a handful of reported arrests.

Democrat Obama meanwhile appealed to his two million donors for financial aid for Hurricane Gustav victims on Monday, before returning to Chicago to assess the aftermath of the storm.

'Today, the thoughts and prayers of all Americans are with those in the path of Hurricane Gustav - and many of you are asking what you can do to help,' Mr Obama said in an email to his supporters.

McCain aides have yet to decide if the four-day convention can resume its normal program on Tuesday.

They also signalled that Mr McCain would likely deliver his acceptance speech, due on Thursday, at the convention, and not as had been previously suggested from the hurricane disaster zone. -- AFP