TPM picked up yesterday's post about the minaret in the Host Committee's logo and got the following statement from the Tampa Host Committee:
The logo is the logo of the Tampa Bay Host Committee...the non profit created by the City to raise funds for the Convention infrastructure. It is nit the RNC Convention logo.
What you are referring to in the logo is the University of Tampa...built in early 1920's...was the former Tampa hotel.
If you read our post you'll see that we noted it in our original story. Sometimes we use RNC to abbreviate Republican National Convention like we did in the title of the post but we never called it the RNC's logo.
Either way we obviously did the story to try to get the crazed ignorant teabaggers to bite. Had this been the logo for the 2012 DNC you would have seen everybody from Glenn Beck to Joe-Bob Teabagger freaking out about it.
Who knows? Maybe there's still a chance that somebody from the right raises a stink about it. We'll have our popcorn ready when they do.
Matt posted an update to yesterday's post about the unveiling of the 2012 Republican National Convention Host Committee's logo. If you look at the buildings you may notice a minaret.
The actual building is part of the Tampa Bay Hotel and opened in 1891.
The newspapers of the day described it as "brightly illuminated, filled with sumptuous decorations, thrilling music and graced with turrets, domes and minarets towering heavenward and glistening in the sun."
Now any sane person wouldn't think twice about putting a minaret into a logo. The question is will the same people that are protesting mosques approve of their party's biggest event having what they probably consider an Islamic image in its logo?
Should this become an issue with the Tea Party it will only confirm just how crazy the Republican party has become.
Update: In what can only be called a mind-blowing Glenn Beck-esque conspiracy, The University of Tampa's newspaper is called "The Minaret" I'm starting to think the RNC might want to rethink their decision to allow Tampa to host the convention.
Tampa Bay's Host Committee announced their new website today. you can see it at 2012Tampa.com
You'll immediately notice that there's not much to it. The main part of the site is the ability to sign up to volunteer for the convention.
Another nice bit of information is the countdown timer. Only 748 days until the opening gavel.
The RNC also has a 2012 Republican National Convention website at GOP2012Convention.com
Update: The dome in the logo, more precisely an Arabic-style minaret, is part of the historic Tampa Bay Hotel, which has been part of the Tampa skyline for years.
Monday, we expect to see the real convention logo for the first time. Just like the Super Bowl logo, we will see that convention emblem all over Tampa Bay in a couple of years.
Another major decision we expect to learn Monday is where all of the convention events will be held.
The majority of events are planned for the St. Pete Times Forum and the Tampa Convention Center next door.
But one option that's on the table is having the Republican nominee for president give his or her acceptance speech in St. Petersburg at Tropicana Field. The Trop can hold thousands more people than the Forum. - WSTP
The RNC has just voted to officially name Tampa as the host for the 2012 Republican National Convention
From the Chair of the Hillsborough County Republican Party Deborah Cox-Rough:
Historical vote on delegate primary now being held #Rnc
Motion just made to accept Tampa as the site for 2012. Voting to take place shortly #victoryinnovember #rpof
Its unanimous Tampa 2012! #rpof #Tampa2012
They also approved some major changes to the Presidential primary process
The RNC has approved a resolution making dramatic changes to the way the GOP picks a presidential nominee, moving primaries to later dates and requiring states to allocate their delegates on a proportional basis.
The proposal will move the earliest nominating contests -- in IA, NH, SC and NV -- back from early Jan. to Feb. It will also require states that hold nominating contests in March to award delegates based on the proportion of votes candidates win, eliminating the prospect of an early winner-take-all state that would effectively end the nominating process.
City taxpayers won't have to foot the bill to host the 2012 Republican National Convention, according to an agreement the Tampa City Council approved today.
The federal government dished out $50 million to Minneapolis-St.Paul and Denver when those cities hosted the political conventions in 2008, and officials here expect the same.
But if the federal funding doesn't arrive, the host committee - the local nonprofit group serving as the liaison between the Republican National Committee and local officials - has agreed to reimburse the city for security and other costs incurred during the event. - TBO.com
The St. Louis Beacon reports we'll hear in late June which cities made the cut for the 2012 Democratic Convention, with site visits over the summer.
Some businesses in Tampa are already seeing a boost.
The NY Times calls Convention, the documentary on the 2008 Democratic Convention in Denver, "a bore".
We noted the GOP hasn't won their convention state since 1992, and the Dem haven't lost their convention state since 1988. But the Southern Political Report goes back a bit further, and finds a more even situation:
Since 1960, Republicans have only won six states where they hosted their convention site (Florida in 1968 and 1972, Michigan in 1980, Texas in 1984, Louisiana in 1988 and Texas in 1992). Democrats have won seven over that time (New Jersey in 1964, New York in 1976 and in 1992, Illinois in 1996, California in 2000, Massachusetts in 2004 and Colorado two years ago).
There's no way the Republicans would pass up the chance to squeeze every ounce of PR out of the SS American Victory which is docked a short walk from the St Pete Times Forum.
In 1944, 531 ships were built and of those, 414 were cargo ships and the remainder was transports. 272 were 6000 HP engines and the balance boasted 8000 HP. 150 were named after schools and universities, 20 were named after countries and the rest reflected geographic names. On January 12, 1944, the very first Victory Ship, named the United Victory, was launched.
The world-class SS American Victory was built in 55 days and was delivered to the U.S. War Shipping Administration by the California Shipbuilding Yard on May 24, 1945. After serving in WWII, and the Korean and Vietnam Wars, the ship went through a $2.5 million restoration in June 1985. In October, 1996, Captain John C. Timmel learned the SS American Victory was earmarked for scrap if not acquired for memorial purposes. Feeling that a museum would be feasible in Tampa, FL and that it would act as a purveyor or maritime memories, the ship was towed from Virginia to its permanent location in the Channelside District in downtown Tampa. Currently, the SS American Victory is only one of 3 fully-functioning ships in the country.
It's easy to picture [insert nominee here] saying "Steps from the SS American Victory we're here to bring victory back to America" or some schmaltzy phrase like that.
An opportunity for Republican activists and professionals to share in experiences and opportunities of involvement at the 2012 Republican National Convention for the selection of the next President of the United States.
For the first time since Tampa was picked to host the Republican Party's 2012 presidential convention, GOP chairman Michael Steele will be in the area Thursday to start planning the giant convention.
At 2 p.m. Thursday, Steele and local Republican leaders will speak to reporters at the St. Pete Times Forum about planning for the convention.
The Forum will host the bulk of the convention's action, although the grand finale -- the presidential nominee's acceptance speech -- may move to Tropicana Field if necessary. -WTSP
I didn't think they would go large for the 4th night, as Tampa's football stadium is open, and August is Tampa's rainiest month. But Tropicana Field is covered, of course, so it would work fine. The only problem is, they can't put off the decision until 7 weeks before the convention, like the Democrats did, since they've got to arrange for the Rays to be on the road. The RNC will need to decide this, at the latest, by fall 2011, which means the nominee's campaign won't have a say in the matter.
Hopefully some reporter will ask Steele about this today.
Considering tar balls were found this morning in Key West, this is very timely:
If organizers of the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa want to set up a web site promoting the event, there's one domain name they won't be able to use: www.gop2012tampa.com. That's because it belongs to a Tampa couple that paid less than $10 for the name and are using it to lobby against offshore oil drilling. Don and Joyce Weaver launched the site on Wednesday, the same day the GOP announced Tampa would host the convention. The site features pictures of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig burning in the Gulf of Mexico and oil covered wildlife.
"We listen to 'Drill, baby, drill' and Sarah Palin saying that this hasn't changed her views at all. We're realistic. We understand that at this point of time in our economy is a petroleum based economy. But we need to change that," Don Weaver said. -TampaBay.com
While we twiddle our thumbs for the next 24 hours waiting for, as someone put it this morning, the only poll with a 0.0% MoE, here's some convention news from the last few days:
Utah Gov. Gary Herbert thinks "politics" played a role in Tampa getting the 2012 Republican Convention. Uh, it isn't called a political convention for nothin'.
Want to reserve a hotel room in Tampa yourself? Forget it. The Host Committee has reserved 15,000 rooms, as usual. How about nearby? There's always this place.
Tampa's starting to look at traffic issues, but notes that good planning minimized some expected problems in Denver and St. Paul in 2008.
Pretrial motions continue in the case of potential protesters at the 2008 GOP convention.
And WCNC previews (not very well, if you ask me) Charlotte's bid for the 2012 Democratic National Convention:
Well yes, hurricanes can of course hit Tampa and cause horrible destruction. The threat of hurricanes hurt Tampa's bid for the 2008 convention. But will a hurricane actually hit Tampa during convention week during 2012? The Hotline is very worried:
In choosing Tampa, FL, as the site of their '12 nominating convention, the RNC has selected a city that is among the most overdue for a major hurricane. ... According to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, a hurricane passes within 65 nautical miles (about 75 miles) of Tampa every 6 years. For major hurricanes -- those with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph or greater -- it is one every 21 years.
Tampa has received a number of glancing blows, but Stacy Stewart, senior hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center, says it's only a matter of time before a major hurricane strikes the city.
"The Tampa Bay area, unfortunately, is one of those well-overdue places," Stewart said. "They're due for a hurricane. They're due for a major hurricane."
There is one mitigating factor for GOPers: While late Aug. is an active time for hurricanes and tropical storms, that isn't necessarily the case along FL's Gulf Coast. The most likely time for a landfalling hurricane along FL's Gulf Coast is later in the season, in late Sept. and Oct., according to Stewart. ... OH GOP Chair Kevin DeWine was a member of the site-selection committee that chose Tampa. He said he didn't attend the site visit that some members did, but he also said the threat of tropical weather never came up during the committee's discussions."
"The things that we discussed and took into consideration were issues that were related to the business decision for the RNC," DeWine said. ... Then again, proximity isn't even required for hurricanes to shut down a convention. In '08, the opening night of the GOP convo in St. Paul, MN, was scrapped while Hurricane Gustav made landfall near Cocodrie, LA, more than 1,200 miles south of the convention hall. Gustav was directly responsible for 7 deaths in LA and 4 in FL.
First, can someone explain to me how an area can become "overdue" for a hurricane? Sure, an earthquake or volcano builds up pressure over time, so the probability of the event increases over time. But a hurricane? I'm sure Dr. Stewart of the NHC is smarter than to actually imply that the odds of Tampa being hit by a hurricane actually increase the longer it's been since the last one.
So what are the odds Tampa is hit by a hurricane the week of the convention? The article says "a hurricane passes within 65 nautical miles (about 75 miles) of Tampa every 6 years". Lets define that as a "hurricane hitting Tampa", since the possibility of a hurricane can have a major impact, even if the hurricane ends up being minimal and 75 miles away. So once every 6 years.
But what are the odds that it hits during convention week. Looking at this chart, 28% of all hurricanes occur in August. Since the frequency of hurricanes is much greater at the end of August than at the beginning, lets say 12% of hurricanes occur the last week in August. But, again from the article:
The most likely time for a landfalling hurricane along FL's Gulf Coast is later in the season, in late Sept. and Oct., according to Stewart.
I've been unable to find specific monthly frequencies for the Tampa area (if anyone has a link, please provide), so lets just make an educated guess, and cut the 12% potential down to 3%. So 3% of all Tampa hurricanes hit the last week in August. A hurricane comes every 6 years. Which means a hurricane should hit Tampa the last week in August once every 200 years.
What do you call somebody from Tampa? A Tampan? Seriously?
Anyway... this morning the Tampa Tribune asks whether Tampa will be ready for the 2012 convention. While Tampans celebrate the announcement, I'm sure people are already hard at work behind the scenes trying to figure out how to make everything run smoothly.
Two years before the presidential conventions in Denver and Minneapolis-St. Paul in 2008, local residents began to question the effect 45,000 or so conventioneers would have on traffic in each of the two regions.
For the most part, it turned out disruptions for locals were at a minimum, interviews and news reports indicate, good news for those concerned about the effect the 2012 Republican National Convention could have on the Tampa Bay area.
It likely will be several weeks before the key transportation planners for the August 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa are officially identified, but whoever takes charge will quickly learn the differences between large draws such as concerts and Super Bowls and massive political rallies.
As a resident of Denver and an attendee of the 2008 Democratic National Convention I can tell you a few things. For all of the stories of transportation nightmares, a mile-wide lockdown around the arena, worries about not enough hotels and Security camera watching people's every move, the convention was truly a good thing for the city of Denver. Thanks to the Host Committee it went off with barely a hitch. Denver residents were concerned though as I'm sure Tampans will be. (Really? Tampans?)
For the most part businesses either closed for the week, shifted schedules to an earlier time or had their employees work from home. I would expect a lot of downtown Tampa companies will do the same.
As for transportation, unlike Tampa, Denver has a light rail line. You can read a story I wrote before the convention about Denver's light rail to get some specifics. During the 2008 convention, the light rail was used during the week but it wasn't the main source of transportation. Delegates and reporters either stayed downtown or at a hotel that had buses running to the convention area. So for the majority of the 40,000 or so visitors, most rode buses or just walked to the convention from their hotel.
One thing has to be mentioned though. The light rail was vital for Thursday night's Invesco Speech (which DemConWatch broke the story). If the RNC has any plans of doing something similar, they're going to have to think long and hard about transportation. More than likely a park and ride type of setup would be needed.
We'll continue to look at Tampa and it's progress toward hosting the 2012 Republican National Convention. DemConWatch started following the 2008 Democratic National Convention in 2005 so we have a lot of information about the preparations. If you're interested in learning more, check out our archives. You can search for stories on specific subjects or jump to specific dates from the left sidebar.
A little news left over on a really slow convention news day:
Phoenix responds to losing the 2012 convention to Tampa:
AZ GOP Chairman Randy Pullen: "While many will point to Arizona's new immigration law as one of the reasons that Phoenix was not chosen, nothing could be further from the truth. Members of the RNC overwhelmingly support the immigration bill signed into law by Governor Brewer, and Republicans from coast-to-coast stand with Arizonans as we fight to secure our border." - a little sensitive, perhaps?
Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon: "With any luck at all, the controversy over the immigration issue, which we've been told didn't factor into this decision, won't prevent us from landing the 2012 Democratic National Convention, or other events of similar size and impact."
According to Hotline On Call, Houston is in the hunt for the 2012 Democratic Convention. News to us. And the Hotline was totally wrong about Houston bidding for the GOP convention, so we'll see.
The official statement from the RNC on Tampa is after the break.
If you've been with us for a while you'll know that Michael Steele is the gift that keeps on giving. I personally am a huge fan of his and think I might cry if he's ever fired.
Unless you've been under a rock, you know that the RNC got busted for spending over $2,000 of its money at an erotic nightclub.
What you may not know is that Tampa has its share of erotic nightclubs.
A reputation can sometimes be hard to shake and the city of Tampa has a reputation it would probably like to eliminate. For the past decade some have called Tampa the lap dance capital of the world.
Paul Allen, the founder and publisher of NightMoves magazine, says he hears about the city's reputation all the time. He believes the shear number of strip clubs in the Bay area has undoubtedly contributed to the city's rep.
"In greater Tampa Bay, I think the last count is around 56 different clubs that are adult-oriented," he said.
Another reason for the reputation is the city's role in the adult industry. "If you own a club in Oshkosh, Wisconsin and you want to book a feature (dancer) to come to your club, there's basically four people you can call. Three of those four companies are based right here in Tampa," Allen said.
But the biggest reason for Tampa's lap dance reputation is because of an ordinance the city enacted about 10 years ago. Called the "six foot rule," it requires customers to stay six feet from the dancers. - WSTP
Matt posted an update to 
There's no way the Republicans would pass up the chance to squeeze every ounce of PR out of the 
If you can 
What do you call somebody from Tampa? A Tampan? Seriously?
If you've been with us for a while you'll know that Michael Steele is the 
