St Paul Pioneer Press article on preferring Dem Convention angers RNC officials

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A St Paul Pioneer Press article last week by Tom Webb entitled "We're thrilled to have RNC ... but still sighing over the Dems" drew a quick reply from Matt Burns, the RNC's Director of Communications

From the original story:

Maybe it's too late for what-ifs. After all, we did woo the Republicans. They did pop the question first. The Twin Cities did agree to be their convention date.

Still, a great political drama is unfolding this year, spawning a convention that will pulse with passion and history. But it's not coming to St. Paul. It's in Denver.

We're hosting the other presidential convention. The one with almost no drama and very little buzz. For the Twin Cities, it's like finally being invited to the royal ball but by the wrong prince.

But maybe our prince has regrets about us, too.

"If they had to do it over again, I think Republicans would rather be in Denver," said Steven Schier, a political science professor at Carleton College. Colorado "just seems to be a more competitive state for the fall."

We'll see how competitive Colorado is in November!

So Matt Burns fires back the next day with "Right place, right convention" in which he questions the reporters data gathering.

Mr. Webb apparently conducted a basic Google search and found "statistics" to support his flawed comparison of the buzzes surrounding the national political conventions. In conducting his "research," did Mr. Webb include "Minneapolis," "St. Paul," "Minneapolis-St. Paul," in addition to "St. Paul"? Not to mention "Twin Cities," which this area is fondly known as to many. Mr. Webb's statement that Denver, where the Democratic National Convention will be held, has "10 times the mentions" falls flat when one considers that "Denver" is rarely referenced as anything but "Denver" in its media coverage.

Burns goes on and on about how to correctly search "The Google" but fails to hit on the many other points that Webb mentions.

"The Republican Party is a mess right now; there's no question about it," said Sarah Janecek, a Republican and editor of Politics in Minnesota.

You would think he could have at least thrown out a talking point to refute that statement!