See Also: Cleveland's Image (Feature Story)
The choice comes down to four locales: Tampa/St. Petersburg, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York City, or Cleveland. Whatever city wins will have to put up with thousands of protesters, thousands of police, traffic-stopping motorcades, and whole blocks that are closed down for days. It would cost an estimated $75 million or more and Cleveland would have to raise about $25 million. But Valarie McCall of the Cleveland Mayor's Office says there is a profit to be made.
Valarie McCall: The economic impact that New York realized - once they minused out whatever negative economic impact that they had - they had over $163 million in terms of economic impact, dollars to the city. Philadelphia, over $100 million. So the short answer is, if it takes closing down a couple streets to realize substantial economic impact, then it's worth it.
Profits aren't guaranteed. Boston residents and visitors were so scared off by the security lock down in 2004 that they abandoned the city. One study estimates the Democratic convention there was a net gain of less than $15 million. The Boston Globe estimated the city actually lost several million dollars. But there's a bigger prize than money - especially for flyover states like Ohio and Minnesota. Jeremy Hanson of the Minneapolis Mayor's office.
Jeremy Hanson: What's unique about these political conventions, not only the economic benefit, you also get the media attention which is to the point that money can't buy the amount of attention you get that has a long life span because you get media attention from over the country and all over the world.
That's 15,000 members of the media, outnumbering delegates three-to-one. Then there are corporate CEO's and executives who will come from around the country - many seeing Cleveland or Minneapolis for the first time.
But first, the nine-member site selection committee has to decide. New York is considered only a safety net as it's unlikely the party will go there twice in a row. Tampa, Minneapolis, and Cleveland are all selling themselves as part of powerful swing states. The Chairman of the GOP in Ohio, Bob Bennett, said the convention could certainly draw enough local attention to tip the state.
Bob Bennett: I think bringing the convention to Cleveland up here in Northeast Ohio, if you look at it, where the Democratic base is in Ohio is. And to pull it off I think would provide a good feeling, a good shot in the arm to the candidate, regardless of who the candidate is.
Bennett says that momentum could carry through to the election which is only seven weeks later.
Venues may well sway the committee. The Twin Cities are offering the 50,000 seat Metrodome - or its professional basketball arena, or its pro hockey arena. Tampa Bay has put up its relatively new hockey arena. Cleveland is offering Quicken Loans Arena and Bob Bennett points out its many nearby facilities.
Bob Bennett: It's tied into the Tower City complex, we've got Higbee's, the old May Co. building has space. We got space located really close, walking distance, you don't even have to go out in the weather. You got the convention facilities for auxiliary meetings.
Cleveland's proposal offers whole floors at the Higbee building for the press . The Party requires over 20,000 available hotel rooms. But Cleveland's Valarie McCall says they can make that.
Valarie McCall: As long as we are in the travel time radius of about 45 minutes we can go as far out as Summit County and have over 33,000 beds.
Hotel beds in Tampa are not a problem - weather is. The peak of hurricane season occurs the week after the convention. The Chairman of Tampa's Host Committee, Al Austin, brushes off such concerns saying the city hasn't had a serious hurricane in 55 years. He says what matters is that Florida has the largest and richest Republican state party in the country, Jeb Bush is governor, and they have resorts.
Al Austin: We have a lot of facilities here, tourist attractions, that the people attending the convention can go to during the day. We have beaches, we have Busch Gardens, we have so many facilities including (Walt) Disney World which is just an hour away from Tampa.
Cleveland officials talk about Blossom or Severance or the Rock Hall. But the Twin Cities have so many new cultural buildings, Newsweek just named it Design City USA. Who wins this competition will be decided by the Republican site selection committee in November. Mark Urycki, 90.3.