| I can't decide if this is smart or a big overreaction: Mitt Romney’s quest to formally win the Republican Party’s presidential nomination may come two days earlier. Plans are underway for Mr. Romney to be nominated on Monday – not Wednesday as previously thought – because of a potential threat from Tropical Storm Isaac and concerns about a possible disruption during the roll call vote from Ron Paul supporters at the Republican National Convention next week. It is a change in the script from previous conventions, with the formal nomination on the eve of the acceptance speech. It is a formality, and Mr. Romney will still deliver his acceptance speech on Thursday evening, but the change would carry significance because Mr. Romney could accept general election money sooner. “The roll call will take place on Monday,” said Jim Dyke, a convention spokesman, who dismissed suggestions that the schedule had changed. “We will go through the roll call in alphabetical order all the way through.” As soon as Mr. Romney officially becomes the party’s presidential nominee, he can have access to the general election money he has spent months raising, putting him on the cusp of tapping into a significant financial advantage for the final two months of the race. The convention schedule, according to discussions underway among party officials here, has as much to do with a desire to keep an orderly convention next week as it does with Isaac, the storm expected to develop into a hurricane as it moves toward Florida. -NYTimes
Four things: First, the roll call is no longer a big thing, at least for the networks, they stopped covering them a while back. So moving it to the non-network televised night is not a big deal. But second, since it's not a big deal, why is the GOP so worried about Paul interruptions during the roll call? Third, Romney's rolling in money. Two days is not going to make a difference. Finally, Issac's forecast continue to move west, and landfall in MS, AL or FL panhandle is now more likely. While a direct hit on Tampa is looking less and less likely, I think the GOP is worried about a Gustav effect. If a strong hurricane hits anywhere in the US, the GOP can't hold a convention at the same time. If Issac turns into a major hurricane Monday into Tuesday, they can actually have Romney's speech Monday night if they have to. (And then, yes, the networks would cover it). |
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