Believe it or not . . . There are media outlets more credible than our daily rag who think the upcoming GOP 2016 Convention is a context betwixt Kansas City vs. Las Vegas.
Check a pretty good write-up of the topic:
Washington Post . . . GOP convention watch: Adelson vs. Koch brothers?
Three takeaways . .
Republican Factions Fight With Money
The premise . . .
"No one gave more money to Republican and conservative causes in the 2012 election cycle than Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire casino magnate, and Charles and David Koch, the billionaire industrialists. Now, the trio seem to be competing for the right to host Republicans from across the country in their back yards in 2016."
Organizers admit some cash for putting together the event is coming from the Koch bros. which isn't a big surprise . . . Still, Koch bros participation might put KC in the Tea Party column and possibly at odds with the GOP establishment OR it could play well and offer a way to co-opt the faction and push them back into the Republican mainstream.
Is Gambling The Right Image For The GOP?
Something in Kansas City's favor . . . Gambling images and metaphors don't go well with politics. Sure, Vegas is a boom town but KC's BBQ, Fountains and skyline speak to a nice (phony) wholesome American image than the more sleazily accurate Las Vegas Strip.
Finally . . .
IS MAYOR SLY HURTING THE GOP 2016 CONVENTION EFFORT?!?!?
WaPo takes a rare quote misstep from Mayor Sly and turns it into a talking point against this town's chances:
Kansas City’s major drawback is Las Vegas’s major advantage: There is no big downtown hotel to serve as a convention hub, which James said “certainly doesn’t help.”
Analysis of the remark: "As you can see from this article he gave our competing cities the ammo to go after us . . . This is an example of how his inexperience and his meddling is hurting the city effort."
Mayor Sly is in a tough spot: He's mayor of a Democrat controlled town pitching for GOP Biz . . . And while the Mayor's "control freak" tactics have served him well in so many other facets of his administration . . . We're wondering if he'll be able to make this pitch effectively in spite of a great many conflicts.
Developing . . .
The GOP is comprised of losers and old assholes (see McCain), so why shouldn't it meet in a loser town like KC?
ReplyDeleteSly stating a fact is hurting the effort?
ReplyDeleteIt's not hurting the effort because there is no chance KC will get the convention. But there is a good chance all this talk will result in a vacant 1,000 room hotel built with taxpayer funds.
ReplyDeleteIt is hurting the effort when we don't need the 1000 room hotel to win the conference and he is trying to use the convention to get the hotel. Shows where his priorities are.
ReplyDeleteHaving Cathy Nugent in charge of anything puts a curse on the entire effort.
ReplyDeleteKC can't manage to host the FFA convention, they sure as hell can't do the GOP. KC needs to stick with the radical reverse racism groups like the NAACP and Southern Christian Leadership Conference where it will flourish providing just another boring week of Tulsa like non-excitement. Hell Wichita is much more equipped to host a REAL convention of any type. KC was then and this is now.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry CK's incredible Creative Class will dream up some wild idea to attract the Repubs.
ReplyDeleteLet me get this straight, the Mayor and his band of Democrats think they can run the Republican Convention? At least Nugent IS a Republican and everyone knows she is the person responsible for getting the RNC invite. If we lose this it will be the fault of the 29th floor.
ReplyDeleteTipster - Cathy Nugent.
ReplyDelete10:22 - Cathy Nugent.
Word is Nugent got pushed aside by Sly's staffer, McGurk's wife in a GOP turf battle. This deal is dead!
ReplyDeleteNot sure how his comment hurts the effort. Anyone could have probably figured that out before he made the comment. It's not like he revealed some great secret.
ReplyDeleteProblem is there really isn't a way to fix the problem without sinking 10s of million more tax payer dollars into building a hotel. Which the city needs to get out of the business of doing. Using public money to fund private projects. As has been mentioned, if the 1000 room hotel is such a good idea, some multimillion dollar investor/developer can build it themselves. Tax payers already fund most of the projects downtown: Marriott, P&L, Sprint Center, soon-to-be street car...
Mayor Sly absolutely DESTROYED the republican plan to get the convention here by stating a clear fact that has been public for months now. EXCELLENT political maneuvering, Mayor Sly! Really just a vicious shot at those wily Republicans.
ReplyDeleteKansas City or Las Vegas....Hmmmmmm..gee, I wonder who will win. It 's such a hard decision. The cities are SO much alike!
ReplyDeleteI am 10:22 McGurk, not Cathy Nugent, but I am someone who has witnessed your manuvering on this issue. You will end up killing the entire project with your meddling. As for the tipster, I think that might be the Washington Post. Mayor James needs to put a gag on you before he takes a fall for your money grab. Nugent spoke to a group of people, me included, 2 years ago and it seems you want to let her do all the heavy lifting then slide in your people to cash in. Problem is it was clearly her friendships and convention experience that got us this far. Well beyond what me or anyone else who heard her first pitch thought possible. The fact is you can't make this convention happen so just let her do what she has done well so far.
ReplyDeleteMcGurk is killing KC's chances. He's a die hard democrat that doesn't want anything related to the Gop coming to KC. Not even his wife.
ReplyDeleteSorry John, if you want to make this personal then we can do that too.
He won't be Mayor for long. I don't even think this is an issue he needs to concern himself with. He'll be out on his ass faster than Rachel Jeantel can say "creepy-ass-cracker".
ReplyDelete