2008 Republican National Convention

2008 Republican National Convention
Official Logo of the 2008 Republican National Convention
Date	September 1 – September 4, 2008
Venue	Xcel Energy Center
City	Saint Paul, Minnesota
Presidential Nominee	John McCain of Arizona
Vice Presidential Nominee	Sarah Palin of Alaska

The United States 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.

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. It was also the second time in American history that an incumbent president did not attend his party's convention (although President Bush did appear via satellite).

Speakers

Monday, September 1, 2008

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Thursday, September 4

Hosting city selection

Four cities made bids to the Republican National Committee (RNC) for proposals to host the 2008 Convention. Those cities were Cleveland, Ohio, Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota, New York City, New York, and Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida. 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 Republican National Convention would be held in Minneapolis-Saint Paul.^[1] The RNC made their decision earlier than originally scheduled because the Democratic National Committee (DNC) 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 the DNC with only two cities to choose from: New York City and Denver, Colorado). This is the second time the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area held the Republican National Convention—the first was held in 1892.

Political significance

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.^[17] Even so, Minnesota has not gone to the Republicans since the 1972 election when during his re-election President Richard Nixon won every state except Massachusetts and the District of Columbia. In 1984, during his re-election, 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 was on the ticket (when the sitting President, Harry S. Truman, chose not to seek re-election and the sitting Vice President, Alben Barkley, lost the Democratic Nomination to Adlai Stevenson).

Based on 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

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.^[18] Governors Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Rick Perry of Texas skipped the convention to remain in their states during the hurricane's landfall.^[19]^[20] The Monday, September 1, 2008, schedule was compressed to two hours from seven.^[18] McCain called on the party to reduce partisan activities ahead of the hurricane's arrival.^[18] The Republican Party chartered a DC-9 to fly convention delegates representing the affected areas back home to their families.^[18] 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.^[19]^[21]

On March 26, 2008, the National Football League; the television network, NBC; and the Republican National Committee agreed in principle to move the kickoff time of the September 4, 2008, Washington Redskins–New York Giants season-opening football game to 7:00 p.m. EDT instead of 8:30 p.m. EDT to accommodate the convention.^[22] 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.^[23]

Delegate count

To be selected as the 2008 Republican Party Nominee, a candidate must have received the vote of 1,191 delegates. As of March 4, 2008, McCain had received the pledges of more than 1,191 delegates.^[24]^[25] Although most of those delegates were not required to vote for him,^[26] on September 3, 2008, McCain won the nomination almost unanimously.^[27]

Republican National Convention Presidential nominee vote, 2008^[27]
Candidate	Votes	Percentage
John McCain	2,343	98.45%
Ron Paul	15	0.63%
Mitt Romney	2	0.08%
Delegates that did not vote	20	0.84%
Totals	2,380	100.00%

Protests

Ron Paul's Campaign for Liberty and 10,000 Ron Paul supporters attended the Rally for the Republic, a protest convention on September 2, 2008, held a few miles from the Xcel Energy Center at the Minneapolis Target Center in direct contrast to the Republican National Convention.^[35]

Several groups had been preparing to protest near the convention.^[36] In early January 2008, protesters marched from the Minnesota State Capitol to the Xcel Energy Center in hopes of securing a protest permit.^[37] The Saint Paul Police Department authorized the event, but only approved the permit through July 2008. 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.^[38] On February 28, 2008, the Associated Press (AP) reported that the 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.^[39]

In early March 2008, the city of Saint Paul gave the first permits to protest organizers.^[40] The city had said that it was not going to follow the "New York model" for protest security, referring to the tactics the New York City Police Department used for the 2004 Republican National Convention protest activity.^[41] Later, on March 24, 2008, 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.^[42] On July 16, 2008, a Federal judge upheld the terms of the permit.^[43] And when the time came on September 2, 2008, police led the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign for two hours on a 2.5 miles (4.0 km) trek away from the convention which had been less than 1 mile (1.6 km) from their starting point.^[44]

Police raids on protesters and arrests

Planning, however careful, was followed by unexpected preemptive raids at the start of the convention, initiated by the local sheriff,^[45] and in coordination with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.^[46] Six persons who were a part of the organizing group, the RNC Welcoming Committee, were arrested during five police raids on homes in Minneapolis and Saint Paul during the weekend preceding the convention and hundreds more were detained.^[47]

Several aspects of the police raids were unusual enough to merit attention from major media outlets.^[48] In particular, raids on suspected protesters were performed by teams of up to 30 police officers wearing riot gear with weapons drawn.^[49] Protesters involved in the raids were accused of fire-code violations at a rental hall used by a group organizing RNC protests.^[50]

On the first day of the convention, a group of protesters non-violently stood in front of approximately 30 to 40 delegates from Connecticut in an attempt to prevent them from entering the convention. One member of the delegation was sprayed in the face, with a toxic substance thought to be diluted bleach.^[51] Paramedics treated an 83-year-old member of the delegation for breathing problems when his credentials were ripped from his neck.^[51] Additionally, a black bloc smashed windows of corporate businesses and several police cars and lit at least one fire near downtown Saint Paul.^[51] About 12 protesters were arrested.^[51]^{[dead link]}

During the convention's first three days, more than 300^[52] individuals were arrested by police,^[53] including journalists (AP photographer Matt Rourke was one),^[54] health-care workers and lawyer observers.^[55] Some were released, but nearly half received felony charges.^[55] Of these felony arrests, many cases were dropped or reviewed, some times for lesser charges, and about 21 were found to be prosecutable.^[52] About 102 persons were arrested for unlawful assembly at a Rage Against the Machine concert in downtown Minneapolis.^[56]

Over the four days of the convention, more than 30 journalists were arrested while reporting on the protests. The arrests included journalists from national organizations such as AP and Democracy Now!, journalists from local radio and TV stations, as well as university journalism students and advisors.^[57]

Three journalists from Democracy Now!—including principal host Amy Goodman—were detained by police during their reporting on the protests.^[58] 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;^[59] all were held on charges of "probable cause for riot".^[60] Progressive news sources have criticized the arrest as unlawful and a violation of the freedom of the press.^[61]

When a permit expired at 5 p.m. on the last day of the convention, bridges were closed and police used tear gas, smoke bombs, pepper spray, flash bangs, mounted police, 40mm paint rounds, 40mm sponge rounds, and all-terrain vehicles to prevent an anti-war march organized by the Anti-War Committee that had begun at 4 p.m.^[62] at the State Capitol.^[56]^[63] Between 300 and 400 persons were arrested or held including 19 journalists, among them AP reporters Amy Forliti and Jon Krawczynski,^[63] reporters from Twin Cities Daily Planet and The Uptake, and Paul Demko of The Minnesota Independent.^[64]^[65]^[63] Total arrests of convention protesters numbered about 800.^[66]