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. 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 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 leaving office three years earlier, was shown at the convention on Wednesday night, in which Bush's family members praised him. In the tribute, Bush's father, George H.W. Bush, said of George W. Bush: "There was never a taint of scandal around his presidency. And I think we forget the importance of that."Security
The convention was designated as a National Special Security Event, which meant that ultimate authority over law enforcement went to the Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security. The federal government provided $50 million for Convention security. Much of the money went to deputizing additional police. Other expenses included expanded surveillance technology and an armored SWAT vehicle. Tampa Bay disclosed specifically that it had spent $1.18 M on video linkages between ground police and helicopters. The city paid $16,500 to the Florida State Fairgrounds Authority in exchange for police use of local fairgrounds as a command center.Dani Doane of The Heritage Foundation described the police presence as "unnerving" and "like a police state". Others reported a quiet week with small protests and few arrests. Police handed out bottles of water during the event and at one point served protestors a box lunch.
The convention
Platform
A committee, chaired by Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, met in Tampa to draft a party platform. On August 21, 2012, the committee released a 60-page document for approval at the convention. The platform was enthusiastically approved at the convention on August 28. Policies include:- A Human Life Amendment banning abortion and legislation "to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment's protections apply to unborn children."
- A constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman. The right of the federal government and each state to deny legal recognition to same-sex marriages.
- For Medicare: increase the age of eligibility and a shift to a defined contribution plan in which the government pays a fixed amount rather than cover an individual's costs.
- A new "guest worker" program; long-term detention for "dangerous but undeportable aliens".
- Abstinence should be the only form of family planning for teenagers that is government funded.
- Increased transparency of the Federal Reserve via audits and investigating the viability of returning to a fixed value currency.
- Ending the federal income tax by repealing the Sixteenth Amendment if the current taxation system is significantly changed.
- Opposing regulations on business to curb climate change, curtailing the power of the Environmental Protection Agency, and promoting "private stewardship of the environment".
Nominations
Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich formally released their delegates in the week before the convention and encouraged them to vote for Romney. Ron Paul retained his delegates, as part of an overall strategy to influence the party. The final composition of several delegations was subject to ruling of the Committee on Contests.
The traditional roll call of the states, which permits delegates to promote their home states, took place on Tuesday, August 28, 2012, the first full day of the convention.
| Candidates | Mitt Romney | Ron Paul | Rick Santorum | Jon Huntsman | Michele Bachmann | Buddy Roemer | Abstain |
| States / Territories | 53 | 3 | - | - | |||
| Alabama | 50 | ||||||
| Alaska | 18 | 9 | |||||
| American Samoa | 9 | ||||||
| Arizona | 26 | 3 | |||||
| Arkansas | 36 | ||||||
| California | 172 | ||||||
| Colorado | 28 | 8 | |||||
| Connecticut | 28 | ||||||
| Delaware | 17 | ||||||
| Washington, D.C. | 19 | ||||||
| Florida | 50 | ||||||
| Georgia | 72 | 3 | 1 | ||||
| Guam | 9 | ||||||
| Hawaii | 17 | 3 | |||||
| Idaho | 32 | ||||||
| Illinois | 69 | ||||||
| Indiana | 46 | ||||||
| Iowa | 6 | 22 | |||||
| Kansas | 39 | 1 | |||||
| Kentucky | 45 | ||||||
| Louisiana | 32 | 12 | 2 | ||||
| Maine | 14 | 10 | |||||
| Maryland | 37 | ||||||
| Massachusetts | 41 | ||||||
| Michigan | 24 | 4 | 2 | ||||
| Minnesota | 6 | 33 | 1 | ||||
| Mississippi | 40 | ||||||
| Missouri | 45 | 4 | 3 | ||||
| Montana | 26 | ||||||
| Nebraska | 33 | 2 | |||||
| Nevada | 5 | 17 | 6 | ||||
| New Hampshire | 9 | 3 | |||||
| New Jersey | 50 | ||||||
| New Mexico | 23 | ||||||
| New York | 95 | ||||||
| North Carolina | 48 | 7 | |||||
| North Dakota | 23 | 5 | |||||
| Northern Marianas | 9 | ||||||
| Ohio | 66 | ||||||
| Oklahoma | 34 | 6 | 3 | ||||
| Oregon | 23 | 4 | 1 | ||||
| Pennsylvania | 67 | 5 | |||||
| Puerto Rico | 23 | ||||||
| Rhode Island | 15 | 4 | |||||
| South Carolina | 24 | 1 | |||||
| South Dakota | 28 | ||||||
| Tennessee | 58 | ||||||
| Texas | 130 | 20 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Utah | 40 | ||||||
| Vermont | 13 | 4 | |||||
| Virgin Islands | 8 | 1 | |||||
| Virginia | 46 | 3 | |||||
| Virgin Islands | 8 | 1 | |||||
| Washington | 38 | 5 | |||||
| West Virginia | 31 | ||||||
| Wisconsin | 41 | 1 | |||||
| Wyoming | 28 | 1 | |||||
| Total Votes: 2,286 | 2061 | 190 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 23 |
Paul Ryan was nominated for vice president by voice vote.