Siberia? Nyet. Not this time. Not really. Florida delegates and alternates to the 2016 Republican National Convention have been assigned to one of two hotels located a 25-minute bus ride away from Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena -- the Embassy Suites Hotel Cleveland -- Rockside (primary hotel) and Courtyard by Marriott Cleveland Independence.
Cheer up, prospective delegates.
The distance sounds worse than it is, apparently. The Greater Cleveland Chamber of Commerce assures me, "At off-peak periods, the buses will reach the arena in 15 minutes."
"Our goal was to put delegations together in a hotel and as close to downtown convention venues as possible," Alee Lockman, director of regional media for the RNC's Committee on Arrangements, told me Tuesday. "Unfortunately, Florida was an exception and had to be split up. We worked that out with them in advance of the decisions being made and announced. Also for your awareness, all of the 56 delegations except California’s are within 35 minutes of downtown."
Poor California. Golden Staters drew the short end of the stick this year. Those poor devils have been assigned to the Kalahari Resort in Sandusky, 58 miles west of the site of the convention. To give you some idea how bad that is, the bus company that contracted to schlep Californians back and forth between Cleveland and Sandusky are getting $15,000 a trip.
Dave O'Neil, a convention spokesman, said Tuesday the RNC began notifying states this week, and will continue to do so on a rolling basis.
OK, Florida delegates won't exactly be on top of Quicken Loans Arena, but I'm told they're better off than many who will become intimately familiar with I-90; and they're light years better than they were at the 2012 convention in Tampa, when the Committee on Arrangements (CoA) dumped them at Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, nearly 32 miles of heavy traffic away from the Tampa Bay Times Forum.
Remember 2012? The Republican National Committee was punishing the state party for the GOP-controlled legislature’s decision to move the Florida primary to January. It was a violation of party rules, the RNC said. Nevertheless the CoA denied any punishment, saying assignments were based on delegation sizes and requirements for rates and meeting space.
Yeah, right. Tell that to delegates who suffocated in a poorly air-conditioned bus, tossed around like peas in a tin can for sometimes an hour or more.
“I’m p---ed off,” Florida Republican Party chairman Lenny Curry told the Tampa Bay Times four years ago. “We’re one of the most important swing states, if not the most important swing state, and our activists and donors are going to be punished for something they had nothing to do with.”
Texas got punished in 2012, too. Those folks were 25 even heavier-trafficked miles away from the convention site. At the time Dallas Morning News reporter Christy Hoppe told me the demotion from previous years was a consequence of former Texas Gov. Rick Perry's challenge to eventual nominee Mitt Romney.
So, did Florida delegates get punished just a little this year because Sen. Marco Rubio hung around in the race too long? "I would hope not," one of this year's alternatives told me. "The RNC wanted Marco to stay in."
I would hope not, too. Florida put its primary back to where it was before so Florida delegates would be treated with respect. In fact, the RNC's Lockman confirmed it: "Absolutely not," she said.
In 2012, Massachusetts, home of presumptive nominee Mitt Romney, was just steps from the Tampa Bay Times Forum. And his native state of Michigan, which like Florida violated the RNC's primary schedule both in 2008 and 2012, was at the Embassy Suites Tampa, also steps from the Forum. Go figure.
Wisconsin, meanwhile, home state of Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, was at the convenient Hyatt Regency Tampa -- nearly as close as Massachusetts.
In Cleveland, the 2016 host delegation will stay at the Doubletree Inn on Lakeside Avenue, formerly the Holiday Inn Select. It underwent $15 million worth of renovations in 2008, and was re-branded as a more upscale Doubletree by Hilton. The hotel is close to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, where the Ohio Republican Party plans an event honoring Gov. John Kasich.
This year the best location probably is the Renaissance Hotel, and that no doubt is where presumptive nominee Donald Trump will be assigned. On the other hand, it hasn't happened yet, so who knows ... would the RNC dare punish the Donald, banish him to California? Remember, this is the guy who keeps accusing the RNC of "rigging" the process ...
Nah. Wouldn't happen.
Some information for Cleveland-bound delegates:
- The CoA is encouraging delegates to use GOP Express bus transportation to the July 18-21 convention, calling it "the most efficient and convenient method" to get to and from the Arena.
- "If you do not use GOP Express, you will not be able to get in the perimeter," says the directive. "The pickups will start 2–3 hours before a session. ..."
- Like the Tampa convention, RPOF has other activities planned for the delegation, including "breakfasts with speakers, visits to notable attractions in Cleveland and other social events throughout the day." Those are going to be available at a fee. More information on how to pay the activities fee will come later.
- Oh, yes, and each Florida delegate and alternate can bring exactly one guest. Again, more information coming.
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 228-282-2423. Twitter: NancyLBSmith
