The 2012 GOP Convention in Myrtle Beach ?

'Welcome to the 2012 GOP National Convention.... Attention Delegates: Please Leave the Beach and Derriere's, and Return the Convention Hall As Soon As Possible.."

I'm kind of reading this as a half story from Facebook messages, but former SCGOP Chair Katon Dawson was receiving an award for his work in getting the first Presidential Debate in Myrtle Beach today. It appears that in his speech, that Dawson will be working, or at least is suggesting , that South Carolina try to be a host to the 2012 Repubican National Convention.

Judging from the tweets and responses from even some loyal Republicans, there is some skepticism with Dawson's proposal, but I thought he was crazy to run for National Chairman, and he almost won. There are some obvious problems: namely the size of the convention Center on the Grand Strand. There was a time when conventions were held in touristy type towns like Atlantic City, but after last year's conventions, the days of the cute conventions are over. Big Time....

Barack Obama's super-coronation at Invesco Field marked the end of smaller markets getting a chance to make a name for themselves. I watched pro teams play on Doubleday Field in Cooperstown - it makes even Big League players seem smaller. A National Convention in Myrtle Beach might endanger the GOP of looking like they're playing at McLeod Park. No one wants to look like the Bad News Bears on National TV, with twelve cable and network channels covering every second of it. Big is in, and it will be from here on out. The candidate needs to look like a God, and a small stage doesn't aid in that objective....

My second concern is that the GOP wil be spending half of it's time chasing delegates off of local beaches, golf courses and strip clubs for five days. Unless they hire a Barack Obama impersonator at Legends in Concert, I doubt they'll be able to cattle them all in one place for long. Is Dolly Parton a Republican? Maybe she could lease out Dixie Stampede and have a 'Nancy Pelosi' 32 oz Porterhouse Special....

No, I'm afraid that Myrtle Beach is a little too kitschy for an event like this. I hate to say it, but even with our quirks, South Carolina is just too AMERICAN to have a National Convention. The party will do some polling, and find a borderline state like Florida or Missouri to have the convention, and try to sneak 10-20 electoral votes away from the Democrats. Miami 2012 or Kansas City 2012 wouldn't surprise me. I've been to Miami - it's too expensive to even leave the hotel! Still, I know Katon pretty well, and there's no changing the man's mind when he's got it made up. Maybe that's a good thing. Hey, at least we wouldn't have to fly to get there......

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