There is nothing Republicans would rather the American people forget more than George W. Bush, who doesn't even have a bit-part at the GOP convention opening today in Tampa.
But W's ghost may be there, anyway.
The National Weather Service says tropical storm Isaac is now heading for New Orleans, and Isaac is projected to become a Category 1 hurricane by the time it makes landfall late Monday or early Tuesday.
Isaac is very likely to revive memories of the Bush administration's monumental incompetence in dealing with the needs of Americans caught in Hurricane Katrina.
And if the public remembers the Bush administration's incompetence with Katrina, they may also recall that administration's lies about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq -- which led us into that devastating war.
And the public may recall how George W. Bush took the $5 billion surplus Bill Clinton bequeathed to him and turned it into a $6 trillion budget deficit by slashing taxes, mostly on the rich, and by creating an expensive new Medicare drug benefit that helped insurance companies more than it helped seniors.
The public might even recall how the Bush administration tried not to see what Wall Street was up to when the Street went on a rampage of risky bets, and then, when Wall Street was about to melt down, pushed Congress into approving a no-strings bailout -- both of which cost the nation billions more.
Indeed, we're still living with George W. Bush's legacy -- the last Republican to occupy the White House -- which is a truth that Romney is desperate to put out of our minds. He wants to blame the bad economy, and most of everything else, on Obama.
The GOP was intent on not even bringing up Bush's name at the GOP convention, because the former president might also remind Americans how little the Republicans care about average Americans, like those caught in Hurricane Katrina, and how much they care about top corporate and Wall Street executives, like those being entertained in Tampa.
But Hurricane Isaac seems likely to remind Americans anyway. And the split screen on the TV newscasts -- part GOP convention, part Hurricane Isaac bashing into the Gulf Coast -- will pose a public-relations problem to the GOP of the first order.
ROBERT B. REICH, Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley, was Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration. Time Magazine named him one of the ten most effective cabinet secretaries of the last century. He has written thirteen books, including the best sellers "Aftershock" and "The Work of Nations." His latest is an e-book, "Beyond Outrage." He is also a founding editor of the American Prospect magazine and chairman of Common Cause.