No, this is not a dig on Minneapolis. As far as cities go I have no idea which is better than the other, especially since I haven't been to either one. Nevertheless, Minneapolis will be a bore when the RNC comes to town right after the Democratic Party has a huge bash that will fill the city to the brim a week or so beforehand.
From Politico:
Of the 12 Republicans running in competitive Senate races — five of whom are incumbents — only three have said they will be attending the convention. Six are definite no-shows, and three are on the fence.
“Nobody likes a funeral,” said a Senate Republican press secretary who spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing “the overall climate of general malaise about the party” as the reason for hesitance on the part of Republicans.
On the House side, according to a report in The Hill, during a July 31 conference call National Republican Campaign Committee Chairman Tom Cole of Oklahoma discouraged congressional hopefuls from attending, saying that doing so would potentially be a “waste of time.”
At least a handful of Republican incumbents, ranging from vulnerable incumbents such as Jon C. Porter and Dean Heller, both of Nevada, to safe veteran members such as Jim Sensenbrenner Jr. of Wisconsin and Sue Myrick of North Carolina, have also decided to stay home this year.
A waste of time? Like attending a funeral? Damn, that doesn't sound good at all. It certainly doesn't sound like the grand old time they had in New York four years ago or in Philly in 2000. Perhaps those cities are a little easier to get to, instead of say, Minneapolis. For the Republican DC elite, the heartland is a scary place, but nowhere near as scary as the entire country will be for them come election day. If I were them, I'd head out and have a nice week of partying....because after that they will only have things to commiserate.
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