Do you think there could be a reason the Republicans are happy the Republican National Convention (in America) will be shortened?

There are several reasons to cut the convention short:
1. There is still a great deal of Republican opposition to Romney.
2. There is little support for Ryan because any thinking person can see the faults in his budget
3. The more people hear about the Republican platform the more they resist it.
4. Republicans have always known that the fewer people voting and involved with party decisions the more likely they’ll win.
5. They have successfully limited the vote in many states, Indiana, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Ohio come to mind. Therefore they don’t want to expose themselves to people that may possibly vote for Obama.

Pretty much what @Ron_C said; at this point, the only chance they have is to keep their mouths shut because every time they speak, they make more people want to vote Obama. And since conventions are all about speaking, it’s in their best interest to shorten the convention.

The networks are only showing a few hours for each party this year, so it’s not going to cut into TV time, just moves it around.

But the Repes seem to have realized a while back they are not winning this year, so have been more focused on keeping the base unified. That’s my observation, at least. So it seems they don;t really care about TV as much as keeping the core happy.

@zenvelo I am afraid that you are very wrong about the republicans not winning. If they can maintain this barrage of false advertising and keep their candidates from being noticed, they will definitely win. Remember, this is America where the least informed and ignorant voters outnumber the informed by almost 2:1. Hatred and ignorance have prevailed since the Reagan reign.

Well, they are holding it in a city that is run by a majority of Democrats… rare in Florida. A friend of mine who lives there and dislikes anything Faux News or ‘New’ Republican, is hoping that the winds sweep away the ‘garbage’.

@JLeslie, would you post links to some information about your question: The republicans are happy the convention is shortened and McCain, what? McCain shortening the convention?

I live in Florida guys. We have been under constant warnings until today about the storm. The very least the NOAA has forecast for Tampa has been severe flooding and high winds.

@bkcunningham What links? This is a question out of my own brain. I am not assuming the Republicans are happy to have an excuse to shorten the RNC, I just thought what if it were true? How might it benefit them? And, I thought I would ask the collective and they could voice if they thought the idea was ridiculous or might have some validity.

Last I saw the hurricane was destined to go more west, so that would be even less of a threat than what I saw this morning. I’m having trouble getting the picture up for the projected path, but I went to ten day weather forecast for Tampa and the highest sustained projected winds were 25 on Monday, all the other days less. I would assume the storm surge is less than what I say this morning if the storm moved more west. But, of course hurricanes can bob around a bit.

The question is a bit ridiculous. The Democrats have been spending all their time and money trying to define Romney in a most unfavorable way. The convention is Romney’s chance to define himself and he is anxious to do so. Most of America has not been watching the primaries and have little direct knowledge of who Romney is, let alone Ryan. They have been influenced by the Democratic attack ads but as they begin to see who they really are, the tide begins to shift.

The Storm has had a fairly wide cone so nobody really knew where it would track. The plans need a little lead time so it is not surprising that the Republicans would shift the schedule. They’ve also got to avoid celebrations while the Gulf coast is being devastated. Same reason McCain had to adjust in 2008. Romney needs and wants more “Face Time’ with the electorate. All the whooping and hollering from the far left zealots doesn’t change that.

@Jaxk The Dems haven’t had to spend a dime. Well, maybe a dime, but not more than a quarter. The media does it for free simply by reporting on what the conservatives say!

I’m sure if it’s a legitimate hurricane, the GOP will have ways to try to shut that whole thing down.

I’m sorry, I meant “forcible” hurricane. My apologies to anyone who might have been offended.

@Jaxk I don’t think Mitt is/was speaking the first day.

@Jaxk I am a bit more influenced by having had Romney govern a neighboring state. Attack ads are not really effective against those like me who don’t have TV and are generally skeptical of anything advertised by anyone anyways, but even Conservative sources who have every reason to make him look good give me and many others reasons to vote for Obama. Hell, especially Conservative sources! His positions alone are reason for many to vote against him, and that doesn’t even consider Ryan. No, @Dutchess_III is correct; the Dems didn’t need to lift a finger to define Romney in an unfavorable way sine he’s done an excellent job of that on his own.

You are correct about the storm though. As someone who has caught he tail end of some Force 5 storms and had their county flooded out a few times as a result, I cannot fault them for changing plans. However, I can laugh at it because, if the same thing happened to the DNC, a lot of Conservatives would go on and on and on and on about how God is voicing displeasure with Liberals.

@SavoirFaire I’m choking!!

I am sure the protesters are glad they won’t have to be outside in that shit an extra day.
As for the Republicans, I doubt they will just be able to catch a different plane.

@JLeslie

I’m not sure how that pertains. Ann Romney is speaking Tuesday, Ryan Wednesday, and Mitt on Thursday. Many other speakers will be shuffled around to fit them in and all will be speaking about the Romney vision.

The Hurricane (estimated to be a hurricane by today) is far flung stretching from Texas to Florida. What it lacks in intensity, it makes up for in size. And given the anniversary of Katrina, everyone is taking note.

@Jaxk I know I am interested in hearing Romney. Words from his mouth. You had said Romney wants to get his message out, and I would say people like me are hoping Romney will be willing to ginore what some of the Republicans party wants and more to the center on some issues as the final parts of the Presidential run come together. I guess at the RNC it isa rah rah session for the Republicans, so maybe he will not do that in this forum anyway, if he is going to do it at all.

As far as the storm hitting other areas besides Tampa. I think if this was winter and Ohio, Michigan, Indiana had huge amounts of snow and ice paralyzing them, fatalities on the road, and blackouts across 200,000 homes they would not postpone the RNC in any way. If California had a big quake or fires I don’t think it would be altered. I could be wrong.

Did Tampa get a bad storm? I haven’t been watching the TV? Or, was it like a typical day of thunderstorms?

@JLeslie

Judging from my own experience driving through the northern edge of Hurricane Alex in July 2010, I’d say the worst that Tampa got from Isaac, is heavy, sometimes horizontally driven rain

@Brian1946 What does Hurricane Alex have to do with it? I’m not sure which story I was supposed to read with your link. I didn’t notice a story about weather conditions in Tampa today.

@JLeslie

Didn’t my link take you to a weather report for Tampa, FL?

Current weather yes, but I thought maybe there was some information on the weather from earlier today that I was missing. I don’t think the convention would have gone on through this hour. It’s 1:30 am ET.

Will it all be recorded? I can’t wait to see what comes out of their mouths THIS time!