Parties Already Shopping For Convention Sites

Barely a year after their quadrennial conventions concluded, the DNC and the RNC are already beginning to look for cities to host the '12 version.

The process began earlier this year when both committees sent letters to cities inviting them to apply, sources in both parties said. And though no one is rushing to make a selection just yet, several areas have already expressed interest.

Introductory letters included requirements for the minimum number of hotel rooms, convention space and other parameters cities must meet if they are to be included. The RNC invited about 30 cities to attend, and while the DNC would not give a specific number, the party is likely to have settled largely on the same list as GOPers.

Earlier this month, about ten cities sent representatives to DC to meet with RNC officials and present their sites. Those involved in the preliminary process included Charlotte, Houston and Tampa, a source said.

RNC chair Michael Steele has already appointed the committee that will appraise each city. Party rules prohibit a member of that committee from representing a state that makes a bid. In practice, that means states with representatives on the committee are unlikely to apply for a bid, though if the states do apply the committee members will step down and be replaced by alternates.

Site selection committee members hail from MI, OH, WI, CT, NJ, GA, SC, UT and CO. Alternates come from KS, DC, LA and AK.

Meanwhile, the DNC has not met with possible convention hosts yet. The party has sent letters to Tampa, Charlotte, Memphis, Houston, Phoenix and St. Louis, a source tells OnCall. The source would not confirm other sites that may be considered possible convention homes.

And grassroots campaigns to have Pres. Obama accept another nomination in their cities have already begun on Facebook, where fan sits for Charlotte and Memphis have popped up, DemConWatch blog noted.

Obama won NC, and the White House has made noise about competing in AZ in '12, now that Sen. John McCain (R) will no longer occupy a space on the ballot. McCain won MO by a narrow margin.

Denver, which hosted the Dem convention in '08, and St. Paul, which held the GOP convention, are likely to get invitations again, but their chances of holding repeats are slim. Dems have not held their conventions in the same city since New York hosted both the 1976 and 1980 meetings, while the GOP hasn't met in the same place since Miami Beach held Richard Nixon's conventions in 1968 and 1976.

(REID WILSON)