May 25, 2020

"President Donald Trump on Monday morning threatened to move August’s Republican National Convention out of North Carolina unless there are guarantees the state will let everyone attend."

"'I love the Great State of North Carolina, so much so that I insisted on having the Republican National Convention in Charlotte at the end of August. Unfortunately, Democrat Governor, @RoyCooperNC is still in Shutdown mood & unable to guarantee that by August we will be allowed ... ..full attendance in the Arena,' he began in a string of four tweets. Trump added: 'In other words, we would be spending millions of dollars building the Arena to a very high standard without even knowing if the Democrat Governor would allow the Republican Party to fully occupy the space.'"

Politico reports.

Obviously, it's a problem to have a Democratic Governor in a position to squelch the Republican convention. The Democrats have their convention in a state with a Governor who's on their side (my state, Wisconsin). Health demands — if they are real — outweigh the need for in-person political theater, but that underscores how much political power the North Carolina governor has, since he can hide his political will within assertions that it's all about health.

I don't see how the North Carolina governor can give this guarantee. He has a higher duty to protect the health and welfare of the people of his state, and he cannot know in advance what the conditions will be in August. He can only say trust me and promise not to let politics affect his decision, but no matter how honest he might be, it can't be relied upon.

67 comments:

Michael K said...

Florida. Obvious choice.

tim maguire said...

Since the governor can't possibly offer a guarantee, I assume Trump has already decided to move the convention site. Either that or he wants some smaller concession and will make a big show later of compromising.

Heartless Aztec said...

The United States is done. Stick a fork in it.

David Begley said...

Bring the Republican convention to Omaha! We do the Berkshire meeting.

Mr Wibble said...

Smart move by Trump.

NC businesses hurt by the lockdown will be screaming bloody murder if they lose the business from the convention. It's going to be difficult for the governor to say, "let's lift the lockdown, but also shut down the convention."

Scott Gustafson said...

President Trump comes from the world of business. If he can't get the appropriate assurances, he will take his business elsewhere. Good for him.

mezzrow said...

"Florida Welcomes Republican Convention" - future headline?

JAORE said...

"Health demands — if they are real — "

The awakening continues....

Jupiter said...

"that underscores how much political power the North Carolina governor has, since he can hide his political will within assertions that it's all about health."

There's a lot of that going around.

Oso Negro said...

Texas and Oklahoma are open for business

Temujin said...

The current data is not in line with the old health models and old expectations. The data today, collecting information from around the world since January is showing the fatality rate to be a fraction of the early projections. Furthermore, the vast majority of serious cases are for those over 80. Over 85. Over 90. And/or those with pre-existing lung conditions.

For instance, in the state of Pennsylvania. There are more Wuhan virus deaths for those over 100 than there are for all of those under 45. More deaths for those over 95 than all those under 60. More for those over 85 than all those under 80. Think about that and how we've shut down the entire world. Studies have shown that kids do not transmit the virus to their parents or other adults. In fact, kids in Pennsylvania are 20 TIMES more likely to get seriously ill from influenza than Wuhan virus. This is public data from that state. The Gov of Pennsylvania wants to keep everyone shut down, nonetheless.

This data is available for every state, including North Carolina. (though Carolina's are not as easily found). And I'm sure their stats follow the same pattern.

Schools should be opened. Little league should be opened. Cities and our lives should be opened. Those of us of a certain age, or any of us with serious lung, heart, or immune system issues should take proper precautions (masks, avoid crowds, wash hands, etc.)

The Convention needs to happen. The Governor needs to allow the Republican Party to proceed with planning, but allow for the possibility that it might need to be altered if the virus gets out of control to the rest of the populace. The Republican Party needs to ensure that they'll filter out those attendees who have pre-existing conditions. Those over 60 should be properly masked and carry a large bottle of sanitizer with them.

BUMBLE BEE said...

The extension of Stay Safe is little more than attempts to prevent Trump rallies from taking place. Why don't you wise up? Oh... right.

Matt Sablan said...

""Florida Welcomes Republican Convention" - future headline?"

-- And set up a possible hurricane convention again? I wonder if there are any non-jinxed states left, though.

Ann Althouse said...

Florida in August?

Ralph L said...

I once had some respect for Gov Cooper when he was state AG for straightening out the Duke Lacrosse mess, until I realized he'd let the accused families twist in the wind to avoid offending the black voters of Durham county, who were essential to his winning higher office.

Of course, it was the wacko Charlotte city government that prompted the HB2 anti-trans law that put Cooper in the governor's seat. I hope the pro-trans sports organizations are happy with the destruction of women's sports they've wrought.

Ralph L said...

Florida in August?

Charlotte is nearly as bad.

Craig Howard said...

The expectation that it is the responsibility of the governor to protect the public from illness is a very recent phenomenon.

The shutting down of entire countries as a precaution against a disease was — not more than several months ago — unthinkable.

Unimaginable.

But then the Chinese locked down Wuhan and, suddenly, it became the thing to do. Italy followed suit and within weeks, virtually the entire world fell in line.

Think of it. We all followed the example of the world’s most repressive and controlling regime with hardly a second thought. And now, it is the people resisting that action who are demonized.

Paco Wové said...

"Florida in August?"

Worked for Nixon!

BUMBLE BEE said...

No longer infectious after 10 days?
https://nypost.com/2020/05/24/coronavirus-patients-no-longer-infectious-after-11-days-study/
Virus lifespan too short to culture for vaccine? Lions and Tigers and Bears...

SMURF said...

Realclearpolitics posts daily tables on U.S. states and nations Wuhan flu fatalities and cases. North Carolina is the 21st worst U.S. state with 784 fatalities. 74.8/million. Average seasonal flu deaths for N.C. is 1430. Question: is N.C. Even having a bad flu year ? Why shut everything down ?

Wisconsin is 26th worst. 510 deaths. 762 average seasonal flu.

Except for New York city this whole lockdown regime is an absurd hysterical over-reaction. And if you take Andy Cuomo murdering old people out of the equation maybe even NYC is manageable.

Koot Katmandu said...

I am so tired of governors or anyone making the rules for anything other than a government run function. Let the people manage their own risk. If you do not want to go the convention then stay home. No one can ever guarentee your safety in doing any damn thing. PDT is right again. Move the convention and do it now.

I can not believe how weak and pathetic we have become. Wear your damn mask, your not standing on the x, A line from a doors song comes to mind. "all the children are insane." Well the kids grew up and they are still insane.

Michael K said...


Blogger Ann Althouse said...

Florida in August?


Air Conditioning was invented by Willis Carrier in 1902. You should try it sometime. It is what turned the South Republican.

A Voice of Reason said...

Are you even paying ANY attention to the accumulating data. Covid-19 is already at Flu level of mortality.

David Begley said...

Omaha has lots and lots of baseball and softball fields. All empty. I’m sick over this.

I'm Not Sure said...

"He has a higher duty to protect the health and welfare of the people of his state, and he cannot know in advance what the conditions will be in August."

"He cannot know". You can say that about practically everything a politician does. And yet, people still find a way to fool themselves into believing that politicians have a special ability to figure out things that voters are unable to.

Well, they don't. It's all a load of crap, a delusion which "public servants" are more than happy to see maintained. Ordering people around is way more cool than taking orders from those who hired you (for a temp job, BTW) so things won't likely change anytime soon.

Rhetorical question... if the average person can't manage his own life and needs a politician to do it for him, how can he possibly be smart enough to choose a competent one?

Scott Gustafson said...

Orlando in August. It would help kick start the hospitality industry here in Florida. Also help ensure winning a swing state.

AustinRoth said...

What a crock of shite. Living is itself a risk. Everyone needs to stop acting like Covid is the plague and get back to normal life.

Big Mike said...

@Scott Gustafson, not Orlando. By then Universal and Disney’s Magic Kingdom will be as open as they’re going to be, and lots of people will be headed there with their kids just to get out of the house.

Try Tampa, anywhere in Georgia, any city in Texas but Austin.

hombre said...

The Repub Convention is not a “peaceable assembly.” Only the Dem Convention deserves protection of the First. Of course Dems don’t need a real convention unless they decide to replace Biden. If they keep him, they will find an alternative so they can hide him.

Achilles said...

A Voice of Reason said...
Are you even paying ANY attention to the accumulating data. Covid-19 is already at Flu level of mortality.


It wouldn't even be that high if the elites weren't purposely shipping COVID-19 patients to nursing homes.

Gk1 said...

How sustainable will this panic mongering be by August? I sense blue state governors are finally getting nervous and looking for an exit strategy. My liberal friends are all complaining the democrats are getting the blame for making sure the economy never recovers under Trump.

Michael K said...

A new paper in "Cell" suggests that the WuFlu similar enough to other corona viruses that many have a pre-exiting immunity.

A pre-publication version of the paper.

Importantly, we detected SARS-CoV-2−reactive CD4+
T cells in ~40-60% of
unexposed individuals, suggesting cross-reactive T cell recognition between circulating ‘common cold’
coronaviruses and SARS-CoV-2.

Dad29 said...

Noem's State would be happy to have the RNC

steve uhr said...

Obviously no governor will make such a guarantee. So where's he going to move it to? Brazil?

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Preemptive strike by Trump.

NC is a "purple" state, it could swing either way depending on voter turnout. Trump wants to whip up support there by holding the RNC convention. Saying this now puts the onus on Cooper to not extend the lockdown without a very compelling reason, lest he make the DemocRATS look petty and mean.

Alison said...

Tennessee is right next door to North Carolina. Either Knoxville or Nashville would work just fine!

Wince said...

I'd look toward covered football stadiums.

You could satisfy and distanced requirement for delegates with seating on the field and first level stadium.

Same with guests and observers in the higher stadium levels.

Here's a partial list: D = domed, RR = Retractible roof.

AT&T Stadium 80,000 Arlington, Texas RR Capacity expandable to 105,000.

Mercedes-Benz Superdome 73,208 New Orleans, Louisiana D Largest fixed roof stadium, capacity expandable to 76,468

NRG Stadium 71,795 Houston, Texas RR

Mercedes-Benz Stadium 71,000 Atlanta, Georgia RR Expandable to 83,000

U.S. Bank Stadium 66,655 Minneapolis, Minnesota D Capacity expandable to 73,000

The Dome at America's Center 66,000 St. Louis, Missouri D Capacity expandable to 70,000

Alamodome 65,000 San Antonio, Texas D Capacity expandable to 72,000

Ford Field 65,000 Detroit, Michigan D Capacity expandable to 70,000

State Farm Stadium 63,400 Glendale, Arizona RR; Seating capacity expandable to 72,200 (over 78,600 with standing room).

Lucas Oil Stadium 62,421 Indianapolis, Indiana RR

Sebastian said...

"Health demands — if they are real — outweigh the need for in-person political theater"

Like, what health demands? What business is it of any governor to control the decisions other people make about their own health? As long as 1. actually vulnerable groups are not harmed, and 2. major health facilities are not overwhelmed, governors have no further role to play.

"since he can hide his political will within assertions that it's all about health'

And that's all current prog coercion amounts to. The have found the true lever of power, and will not let it go to waste.

rcocean said...

Other good alternatives:

Georgia
Texas
Florida - The 1968 Convention was held in Miami Beach in August, without any problems.

Thinking of alterantives, it just struck me how many states have D Governors now. Lets see: Va, NC, Mich, Penn, Illinois, Wisnc, Minn, NY, NJ, Col, CA, WA, ORegon.

Peoples love their D's. Hope they loved their lockdowns.

Amadeus 48 said...

Mitt Romney was nominated in Tampa.

I understand why everyone might want to forget that.

hstad said...

"...Health demands — if they are real — outweigh the need for in-person political theater..."
Love you Ann - great wordsmith!

Coronavirus is now being unmasked as one of the greatest scams in the history of the world.
A new report in the UK shows a child under 15-years-old has a greater chance being struck by lightning than dying from coronavirus.

Moreover, as "Yoram Lass" for Director of Israel's Health Ministry said: "It is the first epidemic in history which is accompanied by another epidemic - the virus of social networks."

Bay Area Guy said...

Love North Carolina, but the Tar Heels have a dipshit Governor, who has orders from his Dem power brokers to slow walk the reopening. No Durham Bull minor league baseball for you!

So.....

Trump should move the convention to Miami Beach, showcasing the great Governor Ron DeSantis. As for the Carolina idiots who voted for Cooper in NC, well, sorry, you gotta be much more savvy.

tim maguire said...

In the case of COVID, the fatality rate is a meaningless statistic. It is 0.00% for some groups and more than 10% for others. A rational plan would look at the real risks and decide how best to protect the populations for whom the risk is unacceptable. There may be places where that means totally shut down and there may be places where that means quarantine the old-folks homes and otherwise go on with life as normal. There may even be places where it means change nothing and have everyone go on with life as normal.

What is feeding my slowly growing outrage is how little the approach has changed as new information has come out. As Temujin pointed out above, the data conflicts with the models and yet the models are not being updated to reflect the new information.

Michael K said...

teve uhr said...
Obviously no governor will make such a guarantee. So where's he going to move it to? Brazil?


Try to pay attention, no matter how difficult that is for you. Florida would be just fine.

The Godfather said...

Trump carried NC in 2016, and Cooper beat the incumbent Republican governor. I don’t think losing all the business a national convention brings would help Cooper’s re-election chances. Ironically, Cooper won the governorship because a lot of folks thought that the Republican governor’s support for an anti-trans bathroom bill was hurting convention business.

Gk1 said...

In normal times it would be next to impossible to lock down a venue of this size without at least 1 year advance notice due to booking issues. Hotels, catering, shuttle service to and from the convention etc. would all need to be carefully planned, deposits paid etc.

But thanks to the lockdown causing thousands of convention center cancellations all over the country, Trump could have his pick of convention centers in states that would gratefully take in the Republican convention no questions asked.

All the while democrats are cowering in their shawls, hiding in basements, projecting the vigor and strength of 88 year grandma. I think the american public will prefer the "strong horse" over the weak one every time.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

It isn’t about where the convention is. It’s about showing fear to the voting public. You don’t have to be Winston Churchill to understand the game. Biden wants to hide in his basement while Trump wants to have a convention. Which says back-to-normal to you?

Bill Peschel said...

I'd love to be the fly on the wall in Charlotte after Trump made his tweets.

See, I grew up there (moved down from Ohio in 1970). I love North Carolina, even though I don't live there now.

Charlotte's movers and shakers have always wanted to be like Atlanta in terms of amenities. They want to grow, grow, grow, and it got to be so silly that they could write an article in The Charlotte Observer about wanting something to be "world-class" without embarrassment. That's how driven they are.

Sinclair Lewis would have had a ball with Charlotte.

But you know, they did it. NFL team (in which the movers behind it promised us that it would make Charlotte "look like New Orleans" -- my wife was in the audience to hear that, and nearly sprained her face with the eye rolling. NBA team. Built up downtown.

Now, Trump's coming to Charlotte! History being made in our little burg. Except for the governor trying to quash it.

Oh yeah, the phone lines between Charlotte and Raleigh are LIT!

steve uhr said...

Michael K - try to pay attention. the question is not whether Florida would be a good place to hold the convention, but whether the governor of Florida will now guarantee that it can proceed at full capacity in August. Only an idiot would make that promise. THankfully Trump isn't a governor.

BTW, Trump's disapproval rating on 538 is the highest since January. People paying attention know that his response to the pandemic is sub par and likely cost tens of thousands of lives.

Greg the class traitor said...

Gk1 nailed it

Trump can screw over a Democrat Governor and his sycophants in a hard left city, and get a better deal someplace else, becaues right now all those convention centers and caterers are desperate for business.

Win, win

gadfly said...

The North Carolina governor and the mayor of Charlotte are Democrats, so how on earth did the Republicans select the Queen City to be their convention site? Trump the self-proclaimed genius has had to have known this for a long time but nary a word until now.

MayBee said...

Dems want to hold their options open to not having a DNC, right? To have an excuse not to have one?

narciso said...

https://www.redstate.com/brandon_morse/2020/05/25/north-carolina-racing-fans-gather-in-large-crowds-at-local-racetrack-defying-governors-lockdown-orders/

Narayanan said...

Why not do Woodstock 2020 RNC out in some field?
for Geezer/Boomer Nostalgia?

Narayanan said...

tim maguire said...
In the case of COVID, the fatality rate is a meaningless statistic. It is 0.00% for some groups and more than 10% for others. A rational plan would look at the real risks and decide how best to protect the populations for whom the risk is unacceptable. There may be places where that means totally shut down and there may be places where that means quarantine the old-folks homes and otherwise go on with life as normal. There may even be places where it means change nothing and have everyone go on with life as normal.

What is feeding my slowly growing outrage is how little the approach has changed as new information has come out. As Temujin pointed out above, the data conflicts with the models and yet the models are not being updated to reflect the new information.
-----------============
Wrong Assumption >>>> Models never needed Data >>> GIGO

Michael K said...

Trump the self-proclaimed genius has had to have known this for a long time but nary a word until now.

gadfly the genius thinks Trump picks the convention site years ago when NC had a GOP Governor and Trump wasn't president. Does your family leet you out alone ?

Leland said...

The North Carolina governor and the mayor of Charlotte are Democrats, so how on earth did the Republicans select the Queen City to be their convention site?

The strategy is to go into a difficult state and make an impression to help gain/flip it. I'm Texan and would love the business, but it is wasted effort to have the convention in Texas (see HW Bush in 1992). It didn't help Romney to be in Florida in 2012. Trump and Romney won North Carolina, but you don't want to just win at the top. You want down ballot too.

Anyway, I agree with several others that this is to poke the Dem Governor and push for concessions. I worked at the 1992 RNC convention. The GOP already had offices on the premise by this time and was working with the local volunteer organization to get human resources. Hotels were booked over a year in advance. Of course, this year, it may be easier to get hotel rooms. Still, it takes a month to train all the necessary volunteers, and you have to security check all of them before the training begins.

Drago said...

gadfly: "Trump the self-proclaimed genius has had to have known this for a long time but nary a word until now."

gadfly still believes every single lie the dems have told about hoax collusion and hoax russian spies in the Trump campaign and the hoax dossier that have all been detonated over the last 18 months.

Every single one.

Without exception.

Because he/she/xe is a "genius".......

Drago said...

gadfly was unable to even launch a blog site and gadfly thought that piggy backing onto every lunatic assertion put forth by a certain MI based hoax LLR at Althouse blog for 4 years was a great idea.

Unstable Un-genius.

Jim at said...

He has a higher duty to protect the health and welfare of the people of his state,

I'm seeing more and more if this sentiment. So, I'll ask: Since when?

When, where and how did we come to think it's the responsibility of the government to protect the health and welfare of the people?

I sure as hell don't look to it for that. Why do you?

bagoh20 said...

Just stop it. It's way past stupid at this point. The crisis never was a national one, and the governors who pretended they had just cause need to find less demanding work.

Wince said...

Republican should hold their convention Live at Budokan.

For the same reason bands record live albums there, whatever it is.

wild chicken said...

They haven't picked the rank and file delegates yet but I'll bet the honchos already have their reservations for Charlotte.

stevew said...

"Threatened", I would have gone with "stated" or "suggested".

As for Florida in August, not much different from January in Wisconsin: hold the event indoors where the HVAC will take care of the heating and cooling concern.

frenchy said...

One thing the governor could do is come out and make a public statement pledging that he will do everything possible in a bi-partisan and cooperative way to meet the requests of the President and the Republicans. He could.

gilbar said...

Health demands — if they are real
assumes facts, not in evidence

The Godfather said...

1. Is Florida too hot in August? When I lived in Ft. Lauderdale we LOVED the summer: No tourists or snow birds. You could get into the best restaurants in town without a reservation (and park on the street). I suppose a national convention would screw that up.

2. As for Charlotte NC, it's a Blue town in a Purple state that went for Trump last time around (the state did). If Cooper hangs tough, and Trump moves the convention elsewhere, that won't hurt Trump in NC, and MIGHT hurt Cooper.