Appearing on FOX News, RNC Chairman Reince Preibus ran through a laundry list of what Cleveland had to offer…
“The hotels, the venue, the arena…it was unbelievable….I mean, the Q there…Dan Gilbert, the Cavaliers…what they got there…” he recited.
And then there’s Ohio’s BIG political prize.
“In the end as well, it’s Cleveland, Ohio. And as goes Ohio, so goes the presidential race,” acknowledged Preibus.
Tom Sutton, a political science professor at Baldwin Wallace, says Cleveland is an appealing choice for the RNC convention.
“We’re talking about an open seat race for the presidency with no incumbents running," explains Sutton. "We’re talking about a state with a sitting Republican governor, one with one Republican and one Democratic senator. And a vast majority of our 16 congress people, 11 of them being Republicans. Despite the fact that we did vote for President Obama.”
Not everyone is enthused. Ed Rollins is a longtime Republican strategist, who spoke his mind quite clearly on FOX.
“I think it’s a bad choice, I would’ve gone to Dallas. I’ve a fond place in my heart for Dallas, that’s where Ronald Reagan was nominated, went on to win 49 states after that convention.”
Rollins says also worries that Cleveland has too much potential to draw protesters and draw attention away from the Republicans.
“There’s always a danger to it, and I just always want to go to a place that’s safe, because I don’t think that at the end of the day, conventions matter anymore.”
Local and state GOP officials praised the choice of Cleveland, as did many Ohio Democratic officials.