6 cities looking at 2012 RNC bids

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2012 Democratic National Convention Site Selection News
2012 Republican National Convention Site Selection News

Atlanta is moving forward with its efforts to bid for the 2012 Republican National Convention, with a meeting planned for Nov. 22 to kickstart the effort. Here's the October letter announcing the meeting:

We are excited to announce the formation of the Georgia 2012 Republican National Convention Bid Committee. I wanted to give you an update:

The first meeting of the Committee will be Saturday November 22, 2008.
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After Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine called for Atlanta to host the RNC in 2012 at the 2008 RNC in Minneapolis Minnesota, members of the party have unified behind this effort.

And even better for us, they let us know who the competition is:

Already Republicans in Arizona (Phoenix), Indiana (Indianapolis), Louisiana (New Orleans), and Texas (Dallas) are organized and moving forward with their 2012 bids. All these states have already formed committees - before the close of the 2008 election cycle. In fact, Arizona who is busy trying to elect their US Senator as President, is able to also focus on 2012. New Orleans has already earned the support of the Democrat Mayor, who sent an official delegation to Minnesota to observe and prepare for their bid. Indianapolis is hosting the 2012 Super Bowl and the Indiana state GOP is working with the business community - today - to do both the Super Bowl and the National Convention.

There are also stirrings in San Antonio:

San Antonio was at one time among the cities considered to host the 2008 Democratic and Republican national conventions, but those mega events were eventually awarded to Denver and Minneapolis/St. Paul, respectively.

Now some Texas Republican leaders say they would support San Antonio making a bid as a potential host city for the GOP’s 2012 national convention.

San Antonio showed indifference in 2006 when it was among the cities under consideration by both parties for their 2008 national conventions.

That spring, San Antonio Mayor Phil Hardberger, concerned with the high costs associated with hosting a national political convention, informed officials on both sides of the political aisle that the Alamo City was declining the invitations to bid.

See here and here on why San Antonio dropped out of the 2008 bid process.

Previous posts on Indianapolis and Dallas.

More on San Antonio decision

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I posted last week that San Antonio dropped its bids to host the 2008 Democratic and Republican conventions. There's more on the decision today from the San Antonio Business Journal:

[San Antonio Mayor Phil] Hardberger was initially excited that San Antonio could land one of the political conventions. But that excitement has waned in recent weeks when it became more clear that the numbers weren't adding up. "I've written a letter to both (political parties) declining," Hardberger says. "I've left the door open for future consideration in case another mayor down the road feels differently than I do."

Michael Sawaya, director of convention facilities for the city of San Antonio, is not surprised by Hardberger's move. Even though a national political convention would likely utilize Sawaya's facilities, he says the payback for hosting these events isn't what it used to be.

There are other concerns, according to Sawaya. "With the size of our convention center and the demand we have, it would be tough taking it off the market for too long without it having a negative impact on the community," Sawaya notes.

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Hardberger says the Republicans were seeking at least $40 million worth of public and/or private support from potential host cities. The Democrats, he says, were asking for at least $35 million. "When you look at the dollars involved and what you get in return, it just made sense to pass," Hardberger explains.

Other factors weighed in Hardberger's decision. One, he explains, is that these political conventions, despite their mammoth size, simply are not the hot ticket they once were. "They are not the greatest shows on earth that they used to be," Hardberger says. "They just don't have the punch anymore."

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Critics have pointed to Boston -- which hosted the 2004 Democratic National Convention -- as a case study in how these political conventions do not provide the payoff for a community they perhaps once did. Cities are taking notice of how the convention played in that city.

Fred Sainz, a former director of convention planning for the Republican Party, negotiated the deal to take the 1996 Republican National Convention to San Diego.... Sainz says any city that expects to benefit from a windfall of positive national media exposure as a result of hosting one of the national political conventions is likely in for a big disappointment.

"Cities are no longer promised the positive press. It's not like that anymore," Sainz notes.

By 2016 or 2020 I don't think any city is going to want to bid for the convention. But that's a topic for another blog at another time.

San Antonio drops out

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San Antonio has withdrawn its bid to host the 2008 Democratic National Convention:

San Antonio officials have ducked out of the beauty contests staged by Democrats and Republicans to determine who will host their 2008 national conventions.

Both parties had invited the city to bid on their conventions, but Mayor Phil Hardberger declined this month in a letter to the parties' national committees.

"San Antonio is an extremely popular convention destination, and we have many large conventions scheduled for the summer months of 2008," Hardberger wrote. To accommodate either convention, he said, the city would have to find new quarters for nearly 24 conferences, many of them booked by longtime customers.

And then there were 8...

San Antonio looking at convention costs

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In what I expect may be a common theme among cities, San Antonio's mayor is worried about the cost of hosting the 2008 Democratic Convention:

San Antonio Mayor Phil Hardberger is not ready to throw an offer out to either the Democrats or Republicans without a clearer picture of what it would cost to land either of the conventions.

"I wouldn't rule out making a serious bid for either convention," Hardberger says. "But the truth is that political conventions can cost a city a lot of money."

This is now the second San Antonio city official who has expressed concern about the cost of hosting the convention.

In the same article, a San Diego GOP convention planner talks about the convention's costs:

Fred Sainz says he negotiated the deal to take the 1996 Republican National Convention to San Diego. He is now press secretary for the mayor of that city, which has already passed on its invitation to bid on both 2008 conventions.

Sainz says that 1996 convention cost San Diego $40 million. He says those in 2008 could cost their host cities much more. "It's a different environment now," Sainz says. "With security concerns and other factors, the cost would be way above that ($40 million) now."

It would not suprise me if we lost a few of the 11 cities just for cost reasons.

Detroit and San Antonio still unsure about bids

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Detroit still is unsure whether they are going to bid for the 2008 Democratic Convention:

"We have expressed interest in receiving the bidding papers from the Democratic Party," Ceeon Quiett, spokeswoman for Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, said Monday. "But we have not made any decisions about either convention."
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The state Democratic Party and the Detroit Visitors and Convention Bureau will help if the city decides to make a bid.

"We've got a track record now after the All-Star Game, the auto show and the Super Bowl," said party Chairman Mark Brewer.

Well at least Ms. Quiett now admits to the city expressing interest, unlike her confusion 10 days ago.

San Antonio is also not yet committed to making a bid:

City officials said it is too early to determine the seriousness of a bid.

"Sure, we're interested," said Scott Wudel with the city's Department of Communications and Public Affairs. "But we have to determine if it's even feasible."

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J.J. Saulino, communications director for Mayor Phil Hardberger, said the mayor would look closely at the cost of making the bid and hosting the convention compared with the payoff San Antonio would get.

Thoughts on a Texas convention

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Burnt Orange Report has an interesting thread discussing the pros and cons of a Texas city hosting the 2008 Democratic National Convention, as well as comments on other potential cities. Some of the comments on Texas cities:

Having a Democratic Convention in Dallas would probably indirectly help out the local parties, but I don't think Dallas is on shortlist for the Convention. Houston might have a reasonable chance of getting the convention. I don't see San Antonio getting the convention at all.

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2008 in Houston? It'd obviously be at the Toyota Center, but they could spin off some ancillary events at the Convention Center that's within walking distance. Also, the conditions which led to our withdrawal from consideration in 2004 don't seem as applicable for 2008 and the sting of missing out on the Olympics might lead to a sizable push by Team White to show off the finished work on some of the changes we've built around town. At worst, I don't see how we can be lower than SLC on the pecking order.

My hunch is that all the Texas locations would be a longshot, though. I've got to think Houston at least puts in a proposal.

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I don't think the DNC convention should be in Texas. That's like the RNC hosting their convention in San Francisco. Just plain doesn't make sense.

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Where better than to demonstrate how the Republicans have screwed everyone over, starting with Texans? Houston's Party (Democrat & in the literal sense) infrastructure can handle the task.

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Hillary will never allow the convention to come to such a red state either.

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Seriously, to this native Texian, ex-New Orleanian and present beachside Californian the suggestion of the 2008 DNC in the "heart of darkness" may not be as crazy as it first sounds--for me, more than just an excuse to come back to see the folks, hassle Republicans (like shooting fish in a barrel lately) and munch on bar-b-que and creole cuisine (still my favorite). After all, Houston has a very popular Democratic mayor and Dallas has a no-nonsense Democratic lesbian Sheriff. Dallas County (and I believe Harris also) is trending Democratic. And the Republicans will love it or, as Harry Truman said: "we will make them love it!"

I agree that a Texas convention is probably a long shot. But if Houston decided to make a serious bid, they would have to be considered a contender. There's a lot of good will towards Houston over the way they welcomed Katrina evacuees, and maybe it might carry over into the bid process.