GOP Will Convene in Battleground
Roll Call Staff
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The GOP has chosen the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul for its 2008 presidential convention, Republicans announced Wednesday.
In choosing the Gopher State’s metropolitan center, the party passed over New York City, Cleveland, and a joint bid from Tampa and St. Petersburg, Fla., and signaled that the upper Midwest could be a focus of Republican efforts to hold the White House in two years.
The selection pre-empts Democrats, who also were considering Minneapolis-St. Paul for their convention. Though the parties occasionally have held their conventions in the same city, Democratic Party rules now dictate that they hold their confab in a separate location, a DNC official said.
That means Democrats now must choose between the remaining two finalists, New York and Denver. That decision is expected in coming weeks. The two conventions are scheduled to be held within days of each other.
In a conference call, Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman said, “The fact is [Minneapolis] is likely to be the place the next president of the United States is introduced to the American people.”
Political observers immediately began to speculate about the selection’s meaning for Republican strategy during the next presidential campaign.
Minnesota, with a modest 10 electoral votes, hasn’t backed a GOP presidential candidate since Richard Nixon in 1972. But margins in the state have narrowed, and it was a key battleground in the 2004 election, with Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) carrying it by just 3 points.
By convening in Minnesota, Republicans also would be able to reach media markets in Iowa and Wisconsin, several observers noted.
“I think it’s the new Minnwisiowa of politics,” said Sarah Janecek of the online newsletter Politics in Minnesota.
Blois Olson, of the same publication, said Republicans “think they can win Minnesota. They want to show their strength here.”
Minnesota lawmakers from both parties welcomed the news as well as the expected economic boon it promises. But they were divided about the impact the convention is likely to have on regional politics.
Republican Rep. John Kline said the event will help throw the region into play. “It’s going to help bring attention to a very important part of the country,” he said.
But retiring Democratic Rep. Martin Sabo predicted that any Republican candidate will have a hard time in the state.
“I think the Bush legacy will have an impact on the 2008 elections,” he said. “He’s not very popular in Minnesota.”
Lobbyist David Norcross, a partner at Blank Rome, was one of eight members on the RNC’s site selection committee. He said the committee took its vote Wednesday morning at the RNC’s offices.
Norcross said the region’s Xcel Energy Center, where the main festivities will be held, stood out as a key factor in the decision. “It is state of the art,” said Norcross, who served as chairman of the committee on arrangements for the Republican National Convention in 2004 in New York City.
“The media work space is really really spectacular. It’s all very impressive.” Norcross said now Republicans will “begin to negotiate the finer points” of holding the convention in the Twin Cities.
Though the Democrats might have been a good fit with the Twin Cities, they “would have presented a serious logistical problem because they have many more delegates than the Republicans do,” said Carleton College professor Steven Schier. “There would have been a real shortage of hotel rooms. They would have had to put people in Rochester, two hours south, and bused them in.”
In the meantime, the selection of the Twin Cities puts extra pressure on Republican candidates to perform well in the state this fall, so as not to be embarrassed going into 2008.
GOP Rep. Mark Kennedy, who’s running for a Senate seat being vacated by Democrat Mark Dayton, is widely thought to be trailing Democrat Amy Klobuchar by double digits even though he began the race as a highly touted recruit. Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty appears to have a modest lead over Democrat Mike Hatch in his bid for a second term, while two GOP-held House seats, one held by Gil Gutknecht and the one being vacated by Kennedy, are considered competitive. Democrats also have high hopes of flipping the GOP-held state House.
In 2008, Sen. Norm Coleman will be up for re-election. Comedian and author Al Franken, a liberal Democrat, has sent strong signals about his interest in running for the seat. Such a matchup would be a marquee race.
Kate Ackley and Louis Jacobson contributed to this report.
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