2008 Republican National Convention Brainroom Briefing Book Bryan S. Murphy Sr. Political Affairs Specialist Fox News Channel Phone: (212) 301-5257 E-mail: [email protected] 1 Table of Contents The CONVENTION................................................................................................................................................... 3 The Call................................................................................................................................................................. 3 Convention Scheduling ......................................................................................................................................... 3 What Happens at the Convention......................................................................................................................... 3 Selection of Minneapolis-Saint Paul ..................................................................................................................... 3 Convention Space................................................................................................................................................. 5 CONVENTION - DAY BY DAY................................................................................................................................. 6 Day by Day in Brief ............................................................................................................................................... 6 DAY ONE (Sept. 1) ............................................................................................................................................... 6 First Day Speakers............................................................................................................................................ 6 Sen. Joe Lieberman to Speak........................................................................................................................... 7 Farewell to the Bush Administration.................................................................................................................. 8 DAY TWO (Sept. 2) ............................................................................................................................................ 10 Second Day Speakers..................................................................................................................................... 10 Keynote Speaker – Rudy Giuliani ................................................................................................................... 10 DAY THREE (Sept. 3)......................................................................................................................................... 12 Third Day Speakers......................................................................................................................................... 12 Balloting........................................................................................................................................................... 12 Republican Keynote Speakers at National Conventions ................................................................................ 13 DAY FOUR (Sept. 4)........................................................................................................................................... 14 Fourth Day Speakers ...................................................................................................................................... 14 McCain’s Acceptance Speech......................................................................................................................... 15 CONVENTION SECURITY .................................................................................................................................... 16 CONVENTION PROTESTS & MEDIA ................................................................................................................... 18 REPUBLICAN CONVENTIONS, 1856-2004.......................................................................................................... 19 FINANCING THE CONVENTIONS ........................................................................................................................ 20 Public Funds to the Parties ................................................................................................................................. 20 Raising Money for the Conventions.................................................................................................................... 20 SELECTING THE DELEGATES ............................................................................................................................ 22 REPUBLICANS: STATES WON......................................................................................................................... 23 CONVENTION ORGANIZATION ........................................................................................................................... 24 THE PLATFORM.................................................................................................................................................... 25 THE CONVENTION BOUNCE IN THE POLLS ..................................................................................................... 27 VOTE IN PAST ELECTIONS – ALL 50 STATES................................................................................................... 30 Endnotes................................................................................................................................................................. 33 2 The CONVENTION The Call The official “call” to the convention, customarily issued by the national committees of the two major parties some 18 months in advance, announces the dates and site of the national convention. Convention Scheduling In a tradition that dates to 1932, the party out of power has convened first, usually about a month before the party holding the Presidency. McCain’s biggest convention problem might be the fact that Sept. 4 – the night he makes his nomination speech – also happens to kick off the 2008 NFL season. NBC will air a highly anticipated Washington Redskins vs. New York Giants game. If the game goes long, McCain could delay his speech.1 What Happens at the Convention National conventions combine three important functions: · Nomination of candidates for the office of President and Vice President; · Formulation and adoption of a statement of party principles—the platform; · Adoption of rules and procedures governing party activities, particularly the nomination process for presidential candidates in the next election cycle. The first nominating convention by one of what emerged as our two major parties—the Democrats—was held in Baltimore, Maryland, between May 21 and 23, 1832. The first Republican nominating convention was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, between June 17 and 19, 1856. This will be the 39th Republican National Convention. Party conventions have largely become ratifying bodies that confer the nomination on the candidate who won it in state contests. The nomination is conferred on the candidate who holds a majority of delegates at the party convention, but under the present system for choosing delegates one candidate is likely to emerge with a majority by the end of the primary season, if not sooner, and well before the convention meets. The 1976 Republican National Convention in Kansas City was the most recent one at which the determination of a major party’s nominee was in any real doubt before the nominating ballots were cast. In 1976, President Ford prevailed over Ronald Reagan by 1,187 votes to 1,070 votes. The last Republican Convention to go beyond one ballot occurred in 1948, when New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey won on the third ballot. Selection of Minneapolis-Saint Paul The convention runs Sept. 1-4 in St. Paul. The convention’s Committee on Arrangements says it’s the Minneapolis-Saint Paul convention, but the convention will, strictly speaking, be held at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. Many in the press have made the mistake of saying that the convention is being held in Minneapolis. Minneapolis takes bragging rights in the easiest measurement of civic strength, population: It has about 100,000 more residents than St. Paul. It's the state's economic and cultural center, while St. Paul is the seat of state government. St. Paul has a downtown shaded by historic buildings and neighborhoods lined with block upon block of pristine Victorian homes. It's got science and history museums, pro hockey, two lakes and a smaller University of Minnesota campus. Literary heavyweight F. Scott Fitzgerald hailed from St. Paul. St. Paul is the city of Charles M. Schulz, the cartoonist who created the comic strip "Peanuts." Schulz grew up in St. Paul and sold his first panel cartoon to the St. Paul Pioneer Press in 1947. St. Paul was founded before Minneapolis and was larger for the first few decades of the two cities' existence. French-Canadian traders set up camp south of Fort Snelling on the Mississippi in 1840, dubbing the settlement 3 Pig's Eye (the nickname of an original settler and bootlegger). In its earliest days, the area was the hub of the whiskey trade that catered to soldiers at the remote military outpost. Local Catholic leaders soon saw to it that the city was renamed St. Paul, cementing a relationship between the Catholic Church and the city's ruling class that exists to this day. By the time Minnesota became