NYMag has “The Pros and Cons of Every City That’s a Finalist for Hosting the 2016 Republican Convention“:
On Thursday, the RNC named its top eight finalists to host the Republican National Convention in 2016. Dozens of cities submitted bids, but now the real battle begins. The contenders are: cities in Ohio (Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus); desert cities often avoided in summer (Las Vegas, Phoenix); and red-state cities that are almost guaranteed to be safe from hurricanes (Kansas City and Dallas).
Right now, the
bachelor partyconvention seems to be Las Vegas’s to lose. “Other than Vegas, you can’t find a state that has vocal supporters from other states,” said a former chairman of the Michigan Republican Party to the Washington Post. “There’s a pretty broad consensus that Las Vegas is the most logical choice.”…
For entirely personal reasons, my favorite:
Kansas City
Pro: The last time the GOP convention was held in Kansas City, Reagan lost the nomination to Ford, but his famous concession speech invoked the image of America as that “shining city on a hill.” That line is fair game, and any chance to bring up Reagan, we’ll take.Con: Someone, we don’t know who yet, but someone, is going to thank the people of Kansas.
The 1976 World Science Fiction Convention (guest of honor: Robert Heinlein) coincidentally followed the 1976 RNC Convention in Kansas City, just at the social tipping point where sf was going “mainstream” and the GOP was going full-metal wingnut. SF fans, used to be treated with a mixture of contempt and fear by hotel reps, were stunned by a wave of friendliness, even open-mindedness, from the ‘mundanes’ working the con sites. Many (quite possibly apocryphal) stories were told about hotel concierges sharing tales of bad behavior by RNC delegates… the most popular, IIRC, finishing with the punch line “As long as your people don’t throw any hookers through a second-floor plate glass window… ”