2012 Republican National Convention
The 2012 Republican National Convention was a gathering held by the U.S. Republican Party during which delegates officially nominated former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin for president and vice president, respectively, for the 2012 election. Prominent members of the party delivered speeches and discussed the convention theme, "A Better Future." The convention was held during the week of August 27, 2012, in Tampa, Florida at the Tampa Bay Times Forum (now Amalie Arena). The city, which expected demonstrations and possible vandalism, used a federal grant to bolster its police force in preparation. Due to the approach of Hurricane Isaac, convention officials changed the convention schedule on August 26, 2012; the convention came to order on August 27, 2012, and then immediately recessed until the following afternoon because of the risk of Isaac hitting Tampa. Background Site selection On August 14, 2009, the Republican National Committee named an eight-member Site Selection Committee to start the process of selecting a host city for the 2012 convention. News reports in early 2010 indicated that Tampa, as well as Salt Lake City, Utah and Phoenix, Arizona, had been selected as finalist candidates for the convention site. The decision was announced on May 12, 2010, when Tampa was selected as the host city. Host Committee The 2012 Tampa Bay Host Committee, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, was the official and federally designated presidential convention host committee for the convention, charged with the task of raising the necessary funds to hold the convention. The Host Committee was composed of 10 prominent Florida business executives, civic leaders, and other community leaders. Al Austin was chairman and Ken Jones served as the president and chief executive officer. The Host Committee achieved its fundraising goal as of August 27, 2012, having raised more than $55,000,000 to host the 2012 Republican National Convention. Objectives and themes The convention theme was "A Better Future". Each day also had its own theme: Monday's was "We Can Do Better"; Tuesday's was "We Built It"; Wednesday's was "We Can Change It"; and Thursday's was "We Believe in America." In addition to these daily themes, the Republican National Committee announced that it would present a series of policy workshops to be hosted by former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich called "Newt University". A primary objective of the convention, described both as Romney's "biggest election hurdle" and as Romney's "most urgent task" of concern by top Republicans, was to counter efforts to portray him as an out-of-touch elitist and to rehabilitate the image of his business career. The convention lasted from August 27–30, 2012. According to the convention website, it hosted 2,286 delegates, 2,125 alternates and 15,000 credentialed members of the media. The convention CEO was William D. Harris. Several notable Republican figures chose not to attend the convention, including former presidents George W. Bush and George H. W. Bush, and former vice-president Dick Cheney. However, a video tribute to George W. Bush, who had stayed out of the political arena since