Wednesday, September 27, 2006
GOP selects St. Paul/Minneapolis
WE’VE MOVED! Democratic Convention Watch is now at http://www.DemocraticConventionWatch.com
While the Democrats moved first in picking convention dates and visiting cities, the GOP, realizing they needed to move fast to get their first choice, announced today that they have chosen St. Paul/Minneapolis as the site of their 2008 convention. New York, Cleveland and Tampa/St. Petersburg were also in the running. The convention will be held at St. Paul’s Xcel Center, just as the Democrats were going to do. This leaves the Democrats with Denver and New York as their final two choices.
CQ notes:
Acting earlier than expected, the Republican National Committee has named Minneapolis-St. Paul as its venue for the 2008 Republican convention, the Associated Press reports. The RNC had not been expected to name its venue until January.
And no, the Democrats can’t go to St. Paul/Minneapolis also:
Minneapolis and New York are also bidding for the Democratic National Convention for 2008. The Democrats require exclusivity, which would eliminate either from GOP consideration if selected by the Democrats first.
The DNC responds:
“We want to congratulate the Twin Cities. The DNC was thrilled to have three great American cities submit strong bids for the 2008 Democratic National Convention. We are looking forward to working with Denver and New York as we make our final decision. The Twin Cities is a great community and this announcement is good news for the cities,” said Democratic National Committee Press Secretary Stacie Paxton.
Denver responds:
This is probably good news for Denver, as it narrows the DNC’s choices to Denver and New York City. The DNC has a rule that cities may not host the Republican Convention in the same city, so the choice of Minneapolis takes them out of the competition. Governor Dean has already said he wants to get the Convention off of the coasts in 2008, which also speaks well of Denver’s bid. We’re still working to deal with various issues, but this is GOOD NEWS for the Denver 2008 bid
And was Cleveland the second choice?
The chairwoman of the nine-member site selection committee, Jo Ann Davidson, contacted Ohio GOP Chairman Bob Bennett on Wednesday to tell him about the decision to chose Minneapolis-St. Paul before any public announcement. He said she told him the race was tight
Posted by Matt at 2:00 PM 
Noooo! I wish the DNC would make a counter offer and I hope this isn’t a done deal yet.
“Picking the Twin Cities would be a geographical power play for Republicans. It would capture the media markets in three states that were battlegrounds in the last presidential election: Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin.”
http://www.publicradio.org/columns/minnesota/polinaut/archive/2006/09/republican_pick.php#comments
I’m officially depressed…
Oh dear god. If the Dems come to Denver, I’ll have to make sure I’m out of town that week. Perhaps I’ll go to Minneapolis.
I really hope the DNC reconsiders the exclusivity and still makes it to Minnesota.
How could they reconsider at this point?? The Excel Center was being proposed for the Dems — that HAS to be out, as it takes at least 60 days of EXCLUSIVE access to prepare it for the convention, and you can bet the GOP has that in their contract.
So do you go to a venue that hasn’t been vetted, and is not the best venue in the city? C’mon, Matt, you know better!
I don’t think this is the end of the world; if anything it forces the Dems to get off the fence about Denver. Though yes, I admit that the GOP’s timing is a little suspicious. It’s not like any of this is going to make a difference this election cycle.
Folks, the Matt who posted above was not me, the writer of this blog. I don’t think there’s anyway to distinguish between the two of us, but I would ask the other Matt to consider changing his screen name. I’m quite aware that the DNC is done with the Twin Cities for this cycle. – Matt
Even though I’m a New Yorker, I’d really love to see the Dems to Denver, as I’ve been saying all along. I’m not saying that because (oh, what a horror) of the “traffic” the Dem convention would cause here. (This is a huge city, it would be a blip.)
Rather, I think Denver is appropriate for reaching out to Western states which are trending Dem.
Whoa I didn’t realize the author was also a Matt… this is just my normal blogger name. -Matt “2”
This is the greatest news the DNC could recieve today. National spotlight Senate race in ’08: Udall v. Allard. What once was a traditional red state is now solid purple. Colorado is waiting for the Dems to pick it up. The DNC must have its convention in Denver.
I’m with Joe. Denver’s gonna take us home to the White House, folks!!! Go Denver!
As a St. Paul Dem, I am a little disappointed with the selection. I was kind of excited when I heard that my hometown (well nearly hometown – I don’t know how much the differences between St. Paul and Minneapolis register to non-minnesotans) was putting in a serious bid for both conventions. It would have been kind of neat for our cities to host both, but it is just simply impractical. I was kind of hoping that ‘my’ convention would be the one picked, but it’s still impressive that our little cities on the tundra are considered so influential by both parties.
To anonymous 3rd poster at 2:25 p.m.
PLEASE – make it a point to be out of town!!
And to Matt~ thanks again for all of the updates here! Denver has been my first pick since you first reported it was a possibility and I hope that’s where we hold our convention!!
Libby
DENVER! DENVER! DENVER! I admit I didn’t care which city the DNC chose, but if I’m going to make a try at becoming a delegate, I want to go somewhere I’ve never gone to and I’ve been to NYC.
Gore 2008 -or-
Feingold 2008 -or-
Richardson 2008