Republican 2004 Nominating Convention To Be Held In The Big Apple

NEW YORK— The powers that be of the Republican Party have chosen to capitalize on the notoriety and appeal of New York City, The Big Apple, when they announced that it would be the site for their 2004 Presidential Nominating Convention. Among the finalists to host the gala event were: Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL and New Orleans, LA, along with New York. Despite the appeal of the other two destinations, the Big Apple was considered a favorite to capture the prize for several months by many political insiders. Aside from New York City’s name recognition, many other factors contributed to the final decision. Some big pluses that tipped the scale in favor of this location were the fact that the city has a Republican mayor in Michael Bloomberg, has many high-profile hotels to accommodate all attendees, and has garnered a lot of attention as a result of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Despite the many pros attached to New York, the decision was not entered into haplessly by any means. Specifically, GOP officials had logistical questions, such as how the city would house large numbers of media representatives who would be covering the event. Also, Florida Governor Jeb Bush, the presidents brother, had pushed hard for Florida to get the convention, but Republican officials decided against this bid because they worried about possible protests in the state as a result of the contested 2000 presidential elections. Going further, New Orleans had many advantages as a convention city as well, but Republicans lost a close and bitterly contested Senate runoff election a month ago when Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu held off a determined challenge from Republican Suzanne Terrell, which contributed to the final decision not to hold the event n New Orleans. In the end, Marc Racicot, chairman of the Republican National Committee, and Ellen Williams, chairwoman of Site Selection Committee, made the final announcement following a conference call today. The panel voted unanimously to recommend New York, pending the completion of a contract with the city. Specifically, if an agreement with the city is reached, the 165 members of the Republican National Committee will vote on the committee recommendation at their winter meeting to be held between Jan. 29-Feb. 1. “We believe New York will provide an outstanding backdrop to showcase our candidate and our party in 2004,” according to a GOP release. Tampa Mayor Dick Greco called the decision “a very difficult choice.” He went on to state that “it was a business decision, strictly a business decision, and all the cities could have furnished everything that the party needed.” Greco also said that his city would bid again in 2008. Prior to this announcement, Democrats declared that they would hold their 2004 nominating convention in Boston during the week of July 26. The GOP convention will be held during the week of Aug. 30. The last convention in New York was the 1992 Democratic Convention that nominated Bill Clinton.