Well, it worked for Reagan in '80...
Posted on 07/08/2014 9:07:07 AM PDT by chrisser
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Capping off a months-long lobbying effort, Cleveland will be the host of the 2016 Republican National Convention.
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus announced Cleveland as the location on the Fox News Channel in a live, on-air interview. The interview was immediately preceded by a tweet, which has since been deleted, from a spokesman for the Republican Governors Association.
"We're excited about bringing the convention to Cleveland in Ohio, and we're excited about the decision. We think it's a smart decision," Priebus said.
Cleveland edged out Dallas, the other finalist, as the recommended location for the convention, giving the city an opportunity to strut its stuff to a national crowd while placing Ohio even more firmly in the political spotlight for the upcoming presidential election.
"I think it's great," said Rob Frost, the Cuyahoga County Republican Party Chairman. "I'm really excited to welcome our Republican colleagues from around the nation to Cleveland in 2016. I think this convention will really elevate Cleveland in the eyes of the nation, and elevate Republicans in the eyes of Cleveland."
Now that the recommendation from the Republican National Committee's site selection committee is in, negotiations with Cleveland officials are expected to begin shortly. A press conference will be held later this afternoon.
The courtship with the national GOP dates back to at least February, when the city submitted its bid. Cleveland was selected a week later as one of eight contenders.
The RNC narrowed the list to four in late May, and on June 25 picked Cleveland and Dallas as the two finalists to host the event.
And last week, RNC officials visited Cleveland to assess "creative ways" to make the city's bid work.
Conventions can be significant economic generators for a city. One study showed that the 2012 GOP convention pumped more than $200 million into the Tampa and Florida economies. That convention drew roughly 50,000 visitors.
Cleveland's convention pitch was rooted in political geography and in a downtown renaissance that leaders said occurred after the city lost its bid for the GOP's 2008 convention. Since that audition, Cleveland has added more hotel rooms and a new convention center.
It's also believed that the expected June availability of Quicken Loans Arena, which will host floor events for the convention, played a role.
Fundraising is another key consideration, and local boosters have estimated that Cleveland will need to raise $55 million to $60 million to cover the costs of hosting.
Boosters are also working to lure the 2016 Democratic National Convention, although officials have said it is highly unlikely the city could host both events.
Noooo. Nothing beats face-to-face interactions with people so that you can explain what conservative principles are. YOu’re not going to get that on TV, where the cameras cut away from minorities in the audience, search out Code Pink/Libertarian disruptors and show the speeches from goofy, nervous no-names.
I hope Portman is not allowed to talk about faggotry.
Obviously winning Ohio in a priority, I don’t know if having the convo in the state you want to win makes a difference, I wouldn’t think so, Romney (Tampa) “lost” FL and Obama (Charlotte) lost NC in 2012.
Cleveland last held the GOP convo in 1936, our worst election. It was also there in 1924, a victory. It’s never held a rat convo, not even for Grover Cleveland, but they are 1 of 7 finalists for the 2016 rat convo year. The last time both convos were held in the same city, 1972, Miami Beach. Highly unlikely to happen this time.
The other rat finalists are Birmingham, Columbus, NYC, Philly, and Phoenix.
Of course, looking at post #21, the GOP's track record of winning the state of their host convention has been pathetic in the last 20 years. I dread the thought of Portman getting a prime time audience (even if his address has nothing to do with gay rights and he's up there blah blah blahing about tax cuts, the backstabbing weasel we will use the spotlight to promote himself nationally and help his re-election campaign), and we'll probably get the usual country club GOP dinosaurs that do nothing to inspire voters (as someone else noted John McCain, Mitt Romney, John Boehner, Bob Dole, etc.)
I'm amusing by the freepers whining about how it would have been soooooo much better to have it in "conservative" Dallas than "liberal" Cleveland, though. Texas as a whole may be conservative, but the city of Dallas is not. It has the nation's only "openly lesbian" sheriff and gave 57% of the vote to Lurch when favorite son GWB was up for re-election in 2004 (although the surrounding COUNTY of Dallas was split almost 50-50 between the candidates). Just like Cleveland, Dallas is a big urban area that is heavily influenced by Democrat minority voters, union thugs, and the liberal college crowd.
I hope the RATs choose B’ham, a metro area with practically no white, Asian or Hispanic Democrats.
Well Cleveland has to win at something. They won the hearts of RINO’s. They can have them too.
Yeah if they want a major city with an actual GOP presence, there aren’t a lot of choices. Cincy would have been better than Cleveland in that regard, so would Dallas, but Dallas is still a rat city that will vote for the 2016 rat nominee.
I guess the theme will be, “look at how America sucks after 8 years of Obama”. Hmm, maybe they should have picked Detroit.
Well, it worked for Reagan in '80...
A Cleveland vs. Cleveland matchup in 2016 would be interesting, as Impy noted they haven't tried to compete with each other in the same city since 1972. They even used the SAME convention location that year (Miami Beach Convention Center, which must have been really happy to get all the attention), one week apart. In 1948, both the GOP and RATs had a convention in Philadelphia, but different locations (RATs were in Convention Hall, GOP was in Municipal Auditorium). I think both parties also had the same chaplin for the closing prayer that year, something that was repeated in 2012... and certainly won't be repeated in 2016. (Best case scenario would the lunatic RATs invite a Muslim Iman to give the closing prayer in 2016, and he uses the opportunity to denounce gay marriage as satanic). Plus if the RATs choose Cleveland in 2016, Kookcinich will demand a speaking slot.
The RATs REALLY want to win Arizona, but every time they gloat that immigration will put the state "in play" for them, Republicans win statewide easily without breaking a sweat. The Dems chased their delusional "we're gonna win AZ" fantasy last time around, and the GOP did it with "we're gonna win over Jewish voters". Both parties are undeterred by reality slapping them in the face and are predicting victory in those areas again in 2016.
If I had to bet money, I'd say both parties duke it out in Ohio in 2016, but the RATs end up in Columbus while the GOP goes to Cleveland. Boring. And if I were the RATS, I would have chosen Cincinnati as a "finalist" instead. Then they'd be symbolically waging war for control of Ohio on opposite end of the state.
I think there is a problem in that only a limited amount of locales can really logistically handle such political conventions. There was talk of holding it in Nashville (GOP), though I think despite a brand new gargantuan convention center, we may have lacked for hotel rooms.
Most cities, of course, are Democrat. A “Republican” locale would be holding it in some suburban place (though again, they’d lack the facilities). After San Diego, I believe Indianapolis is the next largest city with a GOP Mayor (but the city has been experiencing an epidemic of murder, perhaps not the best place to hold a convention). I might even suggest Las Vegas, but the summertime is horrid. Albuquerque, which has a GOP Mayor, could be an interesting choice (to showcase Gov. Martinez), and has been in the doldrums and could use a shot in the arm.
Cleveland really doesn’t seem to be the most brilliant choice (if to go with Ohio, hold it in Cincinnati). Cuyahoga County votes 70% Democrat in Presidential races and hasn’t gone GOP for President since 1972 (and even Nixon got just under 50%). In fact, it’s the most Democrat county in Ohio, and one of the few locales where Zero’s performance INCREASED over 2008.
A lot of these freepers complaining about the GOP having conventions in cities filled with liberals don't seem to realize that major urban areas, by default, tend to be leftist. Conservatives do best in rural areas and RATs do best in big cities, with a handful of exceptions to these rules (e.g. some areas of rural Mississippi lean heavily RAT because of the large black population).
Even in states that are OTHERWISE solidly conservative, a lot of the major cities are overrun with insane RATS, even in places like Salt Like City, Boise, Dallas, Indianapolis, etc.
There was a study a while back of the most conservative cities in America, and while you could find numerous examples of American cities over 100,000 where the mayor and nearly all the elected officials would share our values, none of these cities would be very logical choices for hosting a national convention. The "finalists" for conservative cities with big populations would be something along these lines:
1 Provo, UT
2 Oklahoma City, OK
3 Colorado Springs, CO
4 Anchorage, AK
5 Gilbert, AZ
6 Lubbock, TX
7 Overland Park, KS
8 Tulsa, OK
9 West Valley City, UT
10 Ft. Wayne, IN
Yea Cleveland.....I spent a week there one night.. bud-ah-boom..!
Cleveland is one of the worse crime-cities in the country.
Out the those the only feasible choice is OKC.
I also can’t imagine the rats will pick Birmingham, odd that’s it’s even a finalist.
I think their theme will be “the Hispanic vote”, making Phoenix the clear choice, even though they won’t carry Arizona.
Meanwhile, Portman is allegedly thinking of running for President. A boring candidate with a queer son, just what what we need to take back the White House!
Four of the last eight were in the south.
Look on the bright side, Portman is up in 2016, and hopefully he’ll vacate his seat on a quixotic run. He turned out to be worse than DeWhine (sic) & Rectal Itch. Ohio hasn’t had a decent GOP Senator since Robert Taft, Jr. or even John Bricker (one of the casualties of the 1958 slaughter, whom himself should’ve become President).
Worse than DeWine, yes, rectal itch, I don’t know, maybe.
Boy, you are right, Ohio has not had good Senators. Taft Jr. wasn’t very conservative was he (or Saxbe), a shame what’s become of that family. I had no idea that Robert A. Taft very briefly (from Nov. 1946 until Bricker was seated in Jan) served alongside distant relative Kingsley Taft.
George Bender, briefly served, winning the remainder of Taft’s term in ‘54, before losing in ‘56.
Actually, you’re right. Rechecking his voting stats, Taft, Jr. was pretty subpar, riding on the line of being a liberal. His average ACU rating for his 6 years was a paltry 49.5% (highest in 1971 with a 58, lowest in 1976 with a 40). He couldn’t even beat the execrable Stalinist Metzenbaum even as Ford carried Ohio in 1976 (and the state had a taste of his moonbattery when he served a year of Saxbe’s term in 1974 when the latter was moved up to U.S. Attorney General).
Kingsley Taft won a 2-month short term (on the same day Bricker won the full term). I recalled reading that Kingsley (who hailed from Cleveland, not Cincinnati) was more liberal, but it’s hard to ascertain because of what was little more than a honorary service during a holiday period (Nov ‘46-Jan ‘47). In 1948, he went on to be elected to the State Supreme Court, eventually dying in office as Chief Justice in 1970.
Had I been around in 1970 to vote, I’d have probably endorsed outgoing Gov. Jim Rhodes over Taft (Rhodes lost the primary). Unfortunately, with the Kent State business of that year, Rhodes probably would’ve lost the Senate race (as his Lieutenant, running for Governor lost to the horrid moonbat Jack Gilligan). In fact, it probably cost him the nomination, since the GOP primary was just two DAYS after the incident. Of course, Gilligan proved so terrible, that despite the Kent State thing, Rhodes came back in 1974 to kick him out of office (one of the few bright spots in the worst election year since 1964 or 1958).
I guess it remains that John Bricker was the last great GOP Conservative Senator from Ohio (with Frank Lausche being the best Democrat Conservative).
Wow those are some names from my youth....
Gilligan spawned the evil Kathy Sebelius.
And hyper-hypocrite Metzenbaum moved to Florida right before he croaked to avoid Ohio’s death tax.
That’s why I always call her Gilligan-Sebelius. She married a weak-willed son of a prominent Kansas Republican Congressman, Keith Sebelius. She then used the well-respected name of Sebelius as an entrée to political office in the state. As a stand-alone Marxist Democrat, Gilligan would’ve had a bit more trouble ascending to the Kansas throne in Topeka absent the marriage.
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