MSP may actually pull this off

Posted at 3:41 PM on June 14, 2006 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)

The National Journal's Hotline reads the tea leaves on Minneapolis-St. Paul's bid for the Republican National Convention in '08 and likes what it sees about flyover country. Plus we're cute. And nice. And none of you delegates will be driving while here so our complete inability to merge onto highways shouldn't even come up in the conversation.

The Republican National Committee's '08 convention selection committee said today it would visit four finalist cities -- Cleveland, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York City and Tampa-St. Pete -- in August.

Based on an early reading of the tea-leaves, as well as discussions with a few knowledgeable Republicans, here's what we know about the early bids.

New York City doesn't seem to be doing much to promote their bid beyond a general "We Did In '04; We Can Do It Again" angle. That may change as the city's host committee wraps up. The convention wisdom, which we don't know enough to refute or endorse, holds that NY poo-bahs really want the '08 Dem convention, or both conventions. We'll see.

Tampa St-Pete will put together an attractive bid. The major -- and we mean major -- problem is that convention date lies smack in the middle of hurricane season. It's not enough to show that the area is generally spared the wrath of Gulf storms... it's very hard for us to envision the site selection committee choosing a city that could be -- and is frequently -- targeted by hurricanes.

Keep your eye on Cleveland and Minneapolis-St. Paul... especially the latter. The GOP likes the pitch and location of the state and the mechanics of the Twin Cities bid has already impressed some senior GOPers.

BTW: the Site Selection Committee is represented by RNC members Jo-Ann Davidson, Barbara Alby (CA), Sara Gear Boyd, (VT), Sharon Day (FL), Richard Graber (WI), Jeff Kent, (WA), Connie Nicholas (ND), David Norcross (NJ), and Edgar Welden (AL) [MARC AMBINDER]

Comments (1)

Are you sure that Bush, Cheney & Co. coming to the TC would help the Republicans in the state?

Posted by bill | June 14, 2006 4:39 PM

Services

• Hourly Newscast
• HD Radio
• iPhone App / Mobile
• E-mail newsletters
• RSS feeds
• Podcasts
• Submit your photos
• Videos
• Weather
• Most e-mailed stories