Cleveland's mayor and other civic leaders gave Republican Party officials a tour of Quicken Loans Arena on Tuesday.
It had the appearance of a very basic dry run of a convention: Chairs lined the arena floor, Cleveland police stationed a mobile command unit outside and a motorcade with limousine and police escort was even seen driving through town this week.
Former Utah congresswoman and the chair of the site selection committe Enid Mickelsen joined Republican Chairman Reince Priebus to answer questions from reporters during a break in the tour of the Q.
"For me, certainly your physical facilities -- you look at this arena, this is a tremendous arena. Your convention center, brand new state of the art facility," Mickelsen said. "But the thing that I think has impressed our committee the most is the people."
GOP chairman Reince Priebus said Cleveland left a good mark so far because local leaders very much want to land the event.
"What has totally impressed the committee about Cleveland has been the hunger, the commitment and the willingness to do whatever it takes to make this work," Priebus said.
The Cleveland host committee will have to raise as much as $65 million for the convention. Committee chair Terry Egger wouldn't disclose specifics, but said they're well on their way to that amount. Cleveland is competing with Denver, Dallas and Kansas City.
