2008 Republican National Convention
2008 presidential election
|
|
 
Nominees
McCain and Palin |
|
| Convention | |
|---|---|
| Date(s) | September 1–4, 2008 |
| City | Saint Paul, Minnesota |
| Venue | Xcel Energy Center |
| Notable speakers |
George W. Bush Laura Bush Joe Lieberman Rudy Giuliani Mike Huckabee Mitt Romney Michael Steele |
| Candidates | |
| Presidential nominee | John McCain of Arizona |
| Vice Presidential nominee | Sarah Palin of Alaska |
| Voting | |
| Total delegates | 2,380 |
| Votes needed for nomination | 1,191 |
| Results (President) |
McCain (AZ): 2,343 (99.28%) Paul (TX): 15 (0.63%) Romney (MA): 2 (0.09%) |
| Results (Vice President) | Palin (AK): 100% (Acclamation) |
| Ballots | 1 |
The United States 2008 Republican National Convention took place at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota, from September 1, through September 4, 2008. The first day of the Republican Party's convention fell on Labor Day, the last day of the popular Minnesota State Fair, though because of Hurricane Gustav, this day was mostly a call for action to help victims and formal, required activities; most of the politicking and partying did not start until Tuesday, the second scheduled day.
This was the latest any major party convention has ever been convened, and the first one to take place entirely in September. Traditionally, the party who holds the White House has the opportunity to select the date of its convention second, and normally the challenging party holds their convention in July while the incumbent party holds its convention in August. This year, later dates were chosen for both conventions because the parties wanted to schedule their conventions after the 2008 Summer Olympics ended.
President George W. Bush did not attend the convention (although he did appear by satellite), in order to oversee relief efforts to help citizens recover from Hurricane Gustav. The attending delegates at the convention nominated Senator John McCain from Arizona for President and Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska for Vice President. 1,191 pledged delegates were necessary for candidates to win the respective nominations.
Four cities made bids to the Republican National Committee (RNC) for proposals to host the 2008 Convention. Those cities were Cleveland, Ohio, Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota, New York City, New York, and Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida. The RNC Selection Committee made its recommendation for Minneapolis-Saint Paul and on September 27, 2006, the RNC made its decision public that the 2008 Republican National Convention would be held in Minneapolis-Saint Paul. The RNC made their decision earlier than originally scheduled because the Democratic National Committee (DNC) also had Minneapolis-Saint Paul as a finalist among bidding cities. (After the RNC's selection, the DNC removed Minneapolis-Saint Paul from consideration which left the DNC with only two cities to choose from: New York City and Denver, Colorado.) This is the second time the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area held the Republican National Convention—the first was held in 1892.
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