Nothing was certain on Monday as tropical storm Isaac churned toward the northern Gulf Coast, forcing the Republican Party to reschedule their convention in which Mitt Romney will be affirmed as the party's nominee for the Nov 6 election.

The delegate roll call for Romney to be formally nominated to take on President Barack Obama will now take place on Tuesday, after Monday's program was repackaged into a tighter schedule due to the storm, according to AFP.

Republican Party officials stressed that the prime nighttime speaking slots on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, including speeches by Romney, his wife Ann and running-mate Paul Ryan, remained unchanged.

Analysts said the rescheduling will have little effect on the presidential election result. It is still too early to predict whether Romney will beat Obama, who is being challenged on many tough issues, especially the flagging economy.

"It's hard to say how this hurricane will affect the election campaign, but how the Obama administration responds to the hurricane and its aftermath should be closely watched," said Niu Jun, an expert on US studies at Peking University.

Niu told China Daily that postponing the convention may affect the morale and atmosphere that the Republicans have been building up for a long time. "The hurricane and rescheduling may weaken the publicity of Romney and GOP policies, but such effect is unlikely to last long."

Niu said it's still too early to say who will be the winner in the November election. "Although Obama hasn't achieved too much in improving the US economy, it's still up in the air whether Romney's new policies will convince the general public to vote for him."

Romney is trying to balance celebrating his presidential nomination with being mindful of the ghost of Hurricane Katrina and the stain George W. Bush's handling of it left on the Republican Party, according to The Associated Press.

It echoes a similar scenario in 2008, when Republicans canceled nearly all their programming on the first day of their convention in Saint Paul, Minnesota due to Hurricane Gustav, said AFP.

According to AP, speakers who were formerly scheduled for Monday were to start making the case against Obama using the day's theme: "We can do better". That theme will now be threaded throughout the following three days, said Romney adviser Russ Schriefer, in charge of the convention's planning.

Despite the hurricane alert, hundreds of delegates and media attended the welcoming reception by the local organizing committee in high spirits on Sunday evening.

Barbara Thorburn, an alternative delegate from Texas, is confident that Romney will defeat Obama this November.

"As our economic condition is so bad right now, I think the issue (to determine the elections results) will be the economy and the rest will happen in the spring after Romney takes over," she told China Daily.

"I have a strong feeling that the Democrats will get beaten this time," she said.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus was expected to unveil a national debt clock mounted inside the convention hall of the Tampa Bay Times Forum to express the desperate need for new fiscal leadership in the White House.

"This clock reminds every delegate and every American why we are here in Tampa �� because America can and must do better," said Priebus.

"Every American's share of the national debt has increased by approximately $16,000 during the current administration," he said.

"Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are the right leaders at the right time for America. They will turn this fiscal mess around, get people back to work and set our country on a strong foundation for generations to come," he added.