Category Archives: RNC

Will Clinton or Trump give their acceptance speech outdoors?

By Matt | Published July 2, 2016

Eight years to the weekend that DCW broke the news about Obama possibly giving his acceptance speech outdoors, as DocJess noted, the rumors are flying again:

Discussions are in the works to move Hillary Clinton’s presidential nomination acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention away from the Wells Fargo Center to a larger location, Billy Penn has learned.

Philly Congressman Bob Brady said nothing has been finalized but “there’s talk about it. Continue Reading...

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GOP unveils stage for convention

By Matt | Published June 29, 2016

The GOP released a model of the stage for their 2016 convention.

A couple of thoughts:

  1. Because it’s a model, I don’t think releasing it achieved the effect they desired. It kind of looks like a middle-school panorama project.
  2. It looks like a standard convention stage. Anyone expecting anything dramatically different for a Trump convention won’t find it here.

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Will anyone be speaking at GOP convention?

By Matt | Published June 27, 2016

Besides Trump and his VP?

With the convention less than a month away, POLITICO contacted more than 50 prominent governors, senators and House members to gauge their interest in speaking. Only a few said they were open to it, and everyone else said they weren’t planning on it, didn’t want to or weren’t going to Cleveland at all — or simply didn’t respond. –Politico

Among the non-attendees: Rep Trey Gowdy, Rep Mark Sanford, Rep Sean Duffy, Rep Carlos Curbelo, Sen Kelly Ayotte, Gov Bruce Rauner, Sen Lindsey Graham, Rep Elise Stefanik, Rep Richard Hudson, Rep Mia Love Continue Reading...

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GOP finally gets access to Quicken Loans arena for 2016 convention

By Matt | Published June 17, 2016

The Cavs are gone:

“LeBron, good luck in the series,” Mr. Trump said the other day as he noted the predicament with a sense of resignation. “Of course, the longer it goes, the less time we have. But that’s O.K.”

Mr. Trump will have only four weeks to convert the sports arena into a red, white and blue-decked theater for his political ambitions. Usually, the Republican National Committee likes to allow campaigns six weeks to prepare, and at this point in 2012, Mitt Romney’s campaign had been in place in its arena for weeks. Republican officials, though, said they planned to move quickly. Continue Reading...

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GOP convention preparations to finally start tomorrow after 2 week delay

By Matt | Published June 16, 2016

We’ve discussed in the past the issues with holding a convention in an arena with a successful basketball team. Well, with the Cleveland Cavaliers getting the NBA finals to a 6th game, being held tonight in Cleveland, the RNC will not get the keys to the Quicken Loans Arena until tomorrow morning, leaving just 4 weeks to prepare the arena before the GOP convention starts on July 18. Of course, the RNC has known about this possibility ever since Cleveland made the bid, but it wasn’t until Monday night’s upset win by the Cavaliers over the Golden State Warriors in Game 5 that the worst case scenario had come to past. (Actually 2nd worst – if the Cavs had had home-court advantage, the RNC might not have had access until Monday).

Basketball fans, of course, know that the Democrats faced no such concerns in Philadelphia.

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Both conventions still working to raise money

By Matt | Published June 8, 2016

Both the Republican and Democratic national political conventions remain short of their fundraising goals, as organizers have grappled with calls for corporate boycotts of the Republican gathering and Democrats coped with a protracted nomination battle.

Each committee is working to raise more than $60 million.

The host committee for the Republican gathering in Cleveland has collected roughly $56.5 million, said David Gilbert, its president and CEO. That puts the committee about $7.5 short of the $64 million it must collect for the July 18-21 event. Continue Reading...

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The Rules of the Convention: Part Three — Organization of the Convention and Nomination Process

By tmess2 | Published April 2, 2016

In July, the individuals elected as delegates to their party’s conventions will show up in Cleveland and Philadelphia to select the nominees of their party.  As noted in Part One, each party has temporary rules:  the Republican rules contained in the “Rules of the Republican Party” and the Democratic  Rules contained in the “Call for the Convention.”  These temporary rules do include several committees that will meet before the convention to work on some of the details of the convention, including a rules committee for drafting the permanent rules.

The rules for both parties have some similarities.  There are two big differences, however.  The first involves the composition of the convention committees.  The second involves the process for voting on a nominee.

Continue Reading...

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Rubio requests his delegates stay bound #rnc2016

By Oreo | Published March 30, 2016

Note the typo on the first line
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Update from Matt: Alaska says Rubio will get his 5 delegates back.

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The Rules of the Convention: Part One — The Basics

By tmess2 | Published March 26, 2016

Normally, the rules of the two national conventions are an after-thought.  One candidate gains a significant lead in early March and the rest of the candidates drop out.  The convention becomes a coronation and the rules only matter to insiders.  This year, however, both parties may have two (or more) candidates fighting into June .  At that point, the rules may become crucial to bringing an end to the race.

This post will cover some of the basics in the rule.  With the race now entering a “calm period” with Wisconsin on April 5 and New York on April 19 before the pace picks back up on April 26, my hope is to reach at least three other topics over the next several weeks:  1) delegate selection; 2) the running of the convention itself; and 3) what might change between now and the conventions.

Continue Reading...

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An extended GOP convention could cause hotel and police problems

By Matt | Published March 25, 2016

If the GOP convention goes past four days, the logistical problems are going to be an issue:

First the hotels:

The Republican National Convention is scheduled for July 18 to 21, but many party people are “booking hotels past the 22nd and 23rd” in preparation for a contested convention, the source said.
…
The RNC has blocked out most hotel rooms in Cleveland since last year, but some hotels may not be able to guarantee space after July 22 since they have weddings and other social events booked. Continue Reading...

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