The Republican National Convention is expected to be back on script today after Monday’s opening session was cut to just two hours because of Hurricane Gustav.

Delegates to the convention in St. Paul, Minn., conducted only official business Monday. The only speakers were First Lady Laura Bush and Cindy McCain, wife of presumptive presidential nominee John McCain. They both implored delegates to help the hurricane recovery effort.

The convention’s first-day activities were over by 5 p.m., in plenty of time for delegates to catch the “early bird” special at a local restaurant and get in bed by, oh, 8 p.m. or so if they wanted.

Arkansans made the most of their evening with trips to the Mall of America, the gigantic shopping mall just a few blocks from the delegation hotel in Bloomington, Minn. Some took the chance to watch college football at the hotel bar.

With nothing scheduled for delegates during the day today, either, a few Arkansans planned to attend a policy forum sponsored by former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich of Georgia.

Convention officials were expected to announce tonight’s line-up by mid-morning.

The Associated Press reported that President Bush is expected to make remarks to delegates via satellite this evening. Bush canceled plans to speak Monday because of the hurricane.

It remained uncertain whether former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee would speak tonight as planned. Huckabee’s speech could possibly get pushed back to Wednesday.