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The 2008 Republican National Convention will take place at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota from September 1 until September 4. The first day of the Republican convention will be Labor Day, the last day of the popular Minnesota State Fair.

This is the latest any major party convention has ever been convened, and the first one to take place entirely in September. Traditionally, the party who holds the White House has the opportunity to select the date of its convention second, and normally the challenging party holds their convention in July while the incumbent party holds its convention in August. This year, later dates were chosen for both conventions since the Democrats wanted to schedule their convention after the 2008 Summer Olympics ended, and the Republicans wanted to keep the political and financial advantages of going second.

The attending delegates at the convention will choose and nominate the Republican Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates for the 2008 Presidential election.

1,191 pledged delegates are necessary for a candidate to win the nomination.

The full influence on the convention of Hurricane Gustav's landfall along the Gulf Coast is yet to be seen.

Speakers

Monday, September 1

• Speeches by President George W. Bush, Vice-President Dick Cheney and Senator Joe Lieberman were canceled because of Hurricane Gustav. An abbreviated meeting was scheduled for late afternoon to conduct business required under party rules. The remainder of the convention schedule was to be determined day by day depending on the nature of the storm.

• Laura Bush, First Lady of the United States
• Cindy McCain, wife of presumptive nominee John McCain

Tuesday, September 2

• Rudy Giuliani, keynote speaker and former mayor of New York City
• Jon Huntsman, Governor of Utah
• Tom Ridge, former governor of Pennsylvania and United States Secretary of Homeland Security
• Mike Huckabee, former Governor of Arkansas
• Fred Thompson, former United States Senator from Tennessee
• Joe Lieberman, Democratic United States Senator from Connecticut

Wednesday, September 3

• Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska and Vice Presidential nominee
• Norm Coleman, United States Senator from Minnesota
• Cindy McCain, wife of John McCain
• Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts

NOTE: This list comes from the old RNC schedule and will most likely change.

Thursday, September 4

• Tim Pawlenty, Governor of Minnesota
• Sam Brownback, United States Senator from Kansas
• Mel Martinez, United States Senator from Florida
• John McCain, United States Senator from Arizona and 2008 Republican nominee for President of the United States

NOTE: This list comes from the old RNC schedule and may or may not change.

Hosting city selection

Four cities made bids to the Republican National Committee for proposals to host the 2008 Convention. Those cities were Cleveland, Minneapolis-Saint Paul, New York City, and Tampa-St. Petersburg. The RNC Selection Committee made its recommendation for Minneapolis-Saint Paul and on September 27, 2006, the RNC made its decision public that the 2008 National Convention would be held in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota. The RNC made their decision earlier than originally scheduled due to the fact the Democratic National Committee also had Minneapolis-Saint Paul as a finalist among bidding cities. (After the RNC's selection the DNC removed Minneapolis-Saint Paul from consideration which left only two cities to choose from, New York City and Denver, Colorado). This is the second time the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area is holding the Republican convention—the first one was held in 1892.

Political significance

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Minnesota and neighboring states Wisconsin and Iowa are seen as potential political battlegrounds. Minnesota and Wisconsin each have 10 electoral votes.

Minnesota has not gone to the Republicans since 1972 when President Richard Nixon won every state except the District of Columbia and Massachusetts. In 1984, Ronald Reagan was victorious over Minnesota favorite son Walter Mondale in all states except Minnesota, and the District of Columbia.

Since the U.S. Constitution limits the president to two terms and Vice President Dick Cheney has stated that he will not seek the Presidency, the 2008 election will be the first election in 80 years in which neither the sitting President nor Vice President will seek his party's nomination, Where in 1928 neither the Sitting President Calvin Coolidge or the Sitting Vice-President Charles G. Dawes chose to seek the presidency and the first since 1952 in which neither the sitting President nor Vice President will be on the ticket, where the sitting President Harry S. Truman chose not to seek reelection and the sitting Vice President Alben Barkley lost the Democratic Nomination to Adlai Stevenson.

Scheduling

On March 26, the National Football League, NBC, and the Republican National Committee agreed in principle to move the kickoff time of the Washington Redskins–New York Giants season opening football game to 7:00 pm EDT instead of 8:30 pm EDT to accommodate the 2008 Republican National Convention.

Party officials said that the landfall of Hurricane Gustav on the Gulf coast would delay the start of the convention. The White House has cancelled the planned appearance of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. Governors Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Rick Perry of Texas have each announced they will skip the convention to remain in their states as the hurricane makes landfall. The party announced that the convention schedule for Monday, September 1, had been compressed to two hours from seven. John McCain called on the party to reduce partisan activities ahead of the hurricane's arrival. The Republican Party has chartered a DC-9 to fly delegates from the affected areas back to their families. The last time a major hurricane struck in a presidential election year was Hurricane Andrew in 1992, which hit South Florida four days after the Republican Convention in Houston.

Delegate count

To be nominated, a candidate must receive 1,191 delegates. As of March 4, John McCain has received the pledges of more than 1,191 delegates. However, most of those delegates are not required to vote for him, though he is considered by most news organizations to be the presumptive nominee.

As in keeping with every convention since 1988, it is expected that Governor Palin will be nominated by a voice vote.

Protest

Several groups had been preparing to protest near the convention. In early January 2008, protesters marched from the Minnesota State Capitol to the Xcel Center in hopes of securing a protest permit. The Saint Paul police authorized the event, but only approved the permit through July. On February 8 and February 9, 2008, anti-war protesters attended a weekend conference at the University of Minnesota to discuss the protests and anti-war rally. On February 28, 2008, the Associated Press reported that the Saint Paul Police Department adopted new guidelines for the investigation of protest groups. The police department said that this did not have anything to do with the convention.

Another group, Ron Paul's Campaign for Liberty, is planning to hold a protest convention on September 2, known as the Rally for the Republic. The event will be held only a few miles from the convention center at the Minneapolis Target Center, in direct contrast from the 2008 Republican National Convention, and is expected to attract over 10,000 Ron Paul supporters.

In early March 2008, the city of Saint Paul gave the first permits to protest organizers. The city has said that it is not going to follow the "New York model" for protest security, referring to the tactics New York City Police used for the 2004 Republican National Convention. Later, on March 24, the anti-war group the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War, sued the city, claiming their free speech and due process rights were denied by the vagueness of the permits which did not specify a permitted route for their march. On July 16, the federal judge upheld the terms of the permit.

Police raids on protesters

Planning, however careful, was followed by unexpected preemptive raids at the start of the convention, initiated by the local sheriff, and in coordination with the FBI. Six persons were arrested during five police raids on homes in Minneapolis and Saint Paul during the weekend preceding the convention and hundreds more were detained.

Several aspects of the police raids were unusual enough to merit attention from major media outlets. In particular, raids on suspected protesters were performed by teams of up to 30 police officers wearing riot gear with weapons drawn. Recently, protesters involved in the raids were accused of fire code violations at a rental hall used by a group organizing RNC protests.

During their coverage of the convention, three journalists from Democracy Now!—including principal host Amy Goodman—were detained by police during their reporting on the protests. According to a press release by Democracy Now!, Goodman was arrested after attempting to free two of the show's producers who were in police custody; all were held on charges of "probable cause for riot". Progressive news sources have criticized the arrest as unlawful and a violation of the freedom of the press.

See also

• 2008 Democratic National Convention
• Republican Party (United States) presidential primaries, 2008
• Republican National Convention

References

1. ^ "RNC Site Selection Committee To Recommend Minneapolis – St. Paul For 2008 Republican National Convention". Republican National Committee. 2006-09-27. Retrieved 2007-06-14.
2. "About the 2008 Republican National Convention". 2008 Republican National Convention official website. Retrieved 2008-12-28. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
3. "2008 Conventions Will Be Days Apart". New York Times. 2006-04-06. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
4. "GOP convention schedule for Monday". Associated Press via Google. August 31, 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-31.
5. ^ Shear, Michael D. (September 1, 2008). "Laura Bush, Cindy McCain to Speak Today". The Washington Post Company. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
6. NFL season opener yields to McCain speech | Sports | Reuters
7. ^ Dan Eggen (2008-08-29). "GOP Considers Delaying Convention". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-08-29. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
8. ^ Michael Abramowitz (2008-08-31). "GOP Makes Major Changes to Convention Activities". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-08-31. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
9. Russ Britt (2008-08-29). "Gustav could blow away GOP convention plans". MarketWatch. Retrieved 2008-08-29.
10. Ed Rappaport (1993-12-10). "Preliminary Report: Hurricane Andrew". National Hurricane Center. Retrieved 2008-08-29.
11. "Republican Delegate Count".
12. "CNN Republican Primary Scorecard".
13. "CAN MCCAIN GET ROMNEY'S DELEGATES?".
14. MPR: Peace activists, radicals plotting protests for GOP convention
15. KSTP.com - Protesters warm up for convention in Saint Paul
16. wcco.com - Protesters Making Plans In Minn. For RNC '08
17. MPR: St. Paul police adopt new guidelines ahead of RNC
18. http://www.rallyfortherepublic.com
19. wcco.com - RNC Protesters Not Happy About Marching Routes
20. village voice > news > Runnin' Scared: Minnesota Cops Promise a Kinder, Gentler RNC by Sean Gardiner
21. MPR: RNC protest group sues city of St. Paul
22. Furst, Randy (2008-07-16). "Federal judge rules against RNC protesters". Star Tribune. The Star Tribune Company. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
23. Nelson, Tim and Stachura, Sea (August 30, 2008). "Police conduct raids in preparation for RNC". Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved 2008-08-31.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
24. Greenwald, Glenn (August 31, 2008). "Federal government involved in raids on protesters". Salon. Retrieved 2008-09-02.
25. Birkey, Andy (August 30, 2008). "Pre-RNC police raids: reporters' notebook". The Minnesota Independent. Retrieved 2008-08-31.
26. Associated Press (August 30, 2008). "Police raid headquarters of RNC protesters". Retrieved 2008-08-31. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |Publisher= ignored (|publisher= suggested) (help)
27. Associated Press (August 30, 2008). "Police raid headquarters of RNC protesters". Retrieved 2008-08-31. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |Publisher= ignored (|publisher= suggested) (help)
28. Associated Press (August 30, 2008). "Police raid headquarters of RNC protesters". Retrieved 2008-08-31. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |Publisher= ignored (|publisher= suggested) (help)
29. "Amy Goodman, Others Detained Outside RNC". The Nation. September 1, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-02.
30. "Amy Goodman and Two Democracy Now! Producers Unlawfully Arrested At the RNC". Democracy Now!. September 1, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-02.
31. "Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman arrested at RNC protest". Minnesota Public Radio. September 1, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-02.
32. "Amy Goodman and Two Democracy Now! Producers Unlawfully Arrested at RNC". Alternet. September 1, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-02.

External links

• 2008 Republican National Convention official website
• Minneapolis-Saint Paul 2008 Host Committee
• Republican National Committee official website

• 2008 Republican National Convention
• Saint Paul, Minnesota
• United States presidential nominating conventions
• John McCain
• Sarah Palin