|
At the Republican National Committee's summer meeting in San Diego, the party took its first steps toward picking a site for the 2012 Republican National Convention. But the GOP has a strange rule that prohibits members of the site selection committee from representing states that will bid for the convention. There are members of the committee from the states of Michigan, Ohio, Louisiana, Wisconsin, Colorado, Georgia, District of Columbia, Connecticut, Utah, Alaska and South Carolina. Which, in theory, would rule out the cities of Detroit (GOP 1980), Cleveland, Cincinnati, New Orleans, Milwaukee, Denver (Dem 2008 - how soon we forget), Atlanta (Dem 1988), Washington, DC, and other smaller cities. It's hard to really believe that the RNC would rule out a really viable bid for this reason - much more likely that the site selection committee person would just resign - but for now, we have to assume these cities aren't eligible to bid for the convention. As the Atlanta Journal-Constitution notes: We’re less than a year past the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul., Minn., and already the list of 2012 sites has been narrowed.
And Atlanta is a victim of the narrowing.
...
Not that our fair city had yet launched much of a campaign, or even said it was interested.
As for the Atlanta bid that never-will-be, state Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine, a 2010 candidate for governor, declared his intention to bring the 2012 convention to Atlanta during last year’s national convention.
As for cities still in the running, just two tidbits of news: Meeting this week in San Diego, the RNC has a chance to scope out the self-described America's Finest City. California Republican Party Chairman Ron Nehring, who lives near San Diego, has already approached Mayor Jerry Sanders (R) about returning to San Diego for the 2012 convention, 16 years after ex-Sen. Bob Dole (R-Kan.) accepted the party's nomination here.
Florida has made a conscious effort to stay off the committee in hopes of returning the convention to the Sunshine State. Republicans and Democrats both held their conventions in Miami Beach in 1972, and the GOP held its 1968 convention there as well. -The Hill
San Diego is certainly a possibility, and Tampa made a serious go at the 2008 GOP convention. But, unfortunately, conventions take place in high hurricane season, and the political parties may be gun shy about choosing hurricane-prone cities. Last cycle, hurricanes certainly hurt Tampa's bid: Tampa bid organizers said [Ken] Mehlman, [chairman of the Republican National Committee] told them the threat of hurricanes cost them the convention.
And this was before Hurricane Gustav hit Louisiana, causing a one day postponement of the start of the 2008 Republican convention in St. Paul. I wonder if New Orleans or Florida will ever see another convention.
|
