2008 Republican National Convention
The 2008 Republican National Convention took place at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota, from September 1, through September 4, 2008.[1] The first day of the Republican Party's convention fell on Labor Day, the last day of the popular Minnesota State Fair, though because of Hurricane Gustav, this day was mostly a call for action to help victims and formal, required activities; most of the politicking and partying did not start until Tuesday, the second scheduled day.
Convention
This was the latest any major party convention has ever been convened,[2] 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 because the parties wanted to schedule their conventions after the 2008 Summer Olympics ended.
President George W. Bush did not attend the convention (although he did appear by satellite), in order to oversee relief efforts to help citizens recover from Hurricane Gustav.[3] The attending delegates at the convention nominated Senator John McCain from Arizona for president and Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska for vice president. 1,191 pledged delegates were necessary for candidates to win the respective nominations.
Political significance[edit]
The 27 electoral college votes from Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa as a block—equal in value to Florida's—was judged by the University of Minnesota Elections project to be subject to swing toward either major party.[18] Even so, Minnesota has not gone to the Republicans since the 1972 election when during his reelection President Richard Nixon won every state except Massachusetts and the District of Columbia. In 1984, during his reelection, President Ronald Reagan was victorious over Minnesota's "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 did not seek the presidency, the 2008 election was the first election in which neither the sitting president nor the sitting vice president sought his party's nomination since 1928 (when neither the sitting president, Calvin Coolidge, nor the sitting vice president, Charles G. Dawes, chose to seek the presidency) and the first since 1952 where neither the sitting president nor sitting vice president received his party's nomination (when the sitting president, Harry S. Truman, chose not to seek reelection and the sitting vice president, Alben W. Barkley, lost the Democratic nomination to Adlai Stevenson). With the exception of the 1964 convention, which nominated Barry Goldwater for president and William E. Miller for vice-president, this was the first convention since 1948 not to feature a man named either Nixon, Dole or Bush on the ticket.
Sarah Palin, nominated for vice president, became the first female on the Republican presidential ticket.
Considering the signs that were waved by the delegates, the dominant message of the convention was "Country First." The "U.S.A.!" chant was also a part of the message of the convention with the delegates chanting it during Lieberman's and Thompson's speeches on the first evening.
Scheduling[edit]
With the landfall of Hurricane Gustav on the U.S. Gulf Coast, the White House canceled the planned appearances of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.[19] Governors Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Rick Perry of Texas skipped the convention to remain in their states during the hurricane's landfall.[20][21] The Monday, September 1, 2008, schedule was compressed to two hours from seven.[19] McCain called on the party to reduce partisan activities ahead of the hurricane's arrival.[19] The Republican Party chartered a DC-9 to fly convention delegates representing the affected areas back home to their families.[19] 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, Texas.[20][22]
On March 26, 2008, the NFL and NBC agreed to move the kickoff time of a September 4 season-opening football game to 7:00 p.m. EDT instead of 8:30 p.m. EDT to accommodate the convention.[23] The game ended relatively on time, at 10:01 p.m. EDT, with NBC Sports handing off to NBC News within moments of the end of the game. According to Nielsen Media Research, 38.9 million Americans watched McCain deliver his acceptance speech—a half million more than tuned in to see Obama the previous week.[24]
Hurricane Gustav[edit]
Several early predictions made by the National Hurricane Center showed Minneapolis-St. Paul on the predicted ground track of Hurricane Gustav. Gustav would have long been extra-tropical by the time it reached the area, it could have caused a significant impact to the convention due to rain. Most of the convention's activities were curtailed as Gustav neared, and President Bush canceled his plans to attend the convention. As the hurricane moved inland, its track shifted well to the east missing the area by several hundred miles.