Newspaper Sues to See 2008 Republican National Convention Bid
Update: The Tampa Tribune is now reporting that the cost of the convention will be $124 million, with about $85 million coming from public sources. Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will be honorary chair.
The Tampa Tribune had to sue to see the city’s bid to host the 2008 Republican convention. And even though the city — which had outsourced the bid work to the Tampa Bay Convention & Visitors Bureau — caved, they still didn’t exactly throw open the gates to the information.
The Tribune’s lawsuit, filed in Hillsborough County Circuit Court, states that Tampa delegated to the visitors bureau the governmental function of preparing the bid and, therefore, the bid is a public record.
Dianne Jacob, senior vice president of marketing for the bureau, said the bid is in a 2.5-inch-thick binder. The bureau will allow reporters to view the document but not photocopy it.
“That’s just our policy,” Jacob said.
What would there be to hide in the bid? If you answered, “Republicans trying to bill the taxpayers for another lavish party,” go to the head of the class. St. Petersburg Times:
According to supporting documents from the city, the convention would cost the city and other governments $12.7-million in direct expenses and in-kind services.
A majority of the expense would be for security, including $5.5-million for police and $3.7-million for barricades.
Tampa is competing with three other cities for this “honor” — Cleveland, Minneapolis, and New York. Tampa was first runner-up for the 2004 convention. New York’s smarm factor, however, was irresistible to Rove and the other 2004 puppet masters, who envisioned Bush wrapping himself in a flag atop smoldering World Trade Center rubble. But rarely are conventions held in the same city twice in a row, especially when New York is becoming more associated with Hillary Clinton.
Republicans stole the 2004 election with help from Ohio’s secretary of state, Kenneth Blackwell, so Cleveland might well be rewarded this time.
“It comes down to Ohio and Florida because they’re the battleground states,” [chairman of the Ohio Republican Party Robert] Bennett said.
Florida’s got one thing Ohio doesn’t, though — hurricanes, especially in September, when the convention is set. And how would it look if Republicans had to evacuate, just as they’re practicing their speeches on the lack of proof of global warming?