Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden came to Pittsburgh today, but decided not to march in the Labor Day Parade. He said Hurricane Gustav in the Gulf Coast made it inappropriate for him to campaign in the festive setting of the parade.

"This is just not a day for national politics. Our focus should be what's happening in the Gulf," Mr. Biden said during a Downtown news conference while the parade was under way a few blocks away.

Gov. Ed Rendell, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey and numerous Allegheny County politicians marched at the front of the parade. Mr. Biden said he had no problem with them participating, as the Labor Day Parade is an annual event for them and their attendance is expected. But the standard is different for someone on a national ticket, he said.

Mr. Biden said he had no plans to visit Louisiana during this time of trouble. "You don't want to have a public official in the way," he said.

He said Congress soon would be evaluating the government's response to Gustav, and to summer flooding in Iowa, Missouri and Wisconsin.

So far, he said, he saw little to criticize in the evacuation of 1.9 million people in the New Orleans area and the federal government gearing up to help those people. "I am convinced we will not have a repeat of the shameful way [Hurricane] Katrina was handled," he said.