Quietly, hope lives for Tampa GOP bash

A lack of questions in the final hours has Republicans confident that Tampa still has a shot at hosting the 2004 convention.

By BILL ADAIR, LUCY MORGAN and DAVID KARP
© St. Petersburg Times
published January 4, 2003

With the Republican National Committee set to announce its 2004 convention city early next week, supporters of Tampa's bid hope no news is good news.

Tampa leaders haven't heard from national GOP officials in several weeks. There havebeen no followup questions or last-minute phone calls. Tampa boosters hope that's a sign they've answered all of the party's concerns and have pulled ahead of New York, which was widely believed to be the front-runner.

"I have not heard a word," Gov. Jeb Bush said Friday. "I think it's good there has been a delay. From the perspective of what our chances are, the feeling was New York was the front-runner. But the longer this goes on, then one can speculate. Tampa is definitely in the running."

Al Cardenas, chairman of the Florida Republican Party, said Friday he thought it was a two-city race between New York and Tampa. Cardenas and others involved in the selection have said New Orleans, the third city being considered, is a long shot.

"It's really a very close race between New York and us," Cardenas said, adding that he was "cautiously optimistic. I think it's been good for Tampa that it's taken this long. We were the underdogs early on. The fact that it's taken so long ... means it's a tough decision to make. There is no clear front-runner, and Tampa has caught up."

Officially, the Republican National Committee has given no hints and says all three cities are under consideration. RNC spokesman Kevin Sheridan said the party's site selection committee will hold a conference call early next week, and "we won't know until all the members have voted."

Al Austin, co-chairman of the Tampa Bay host committee, said he is hopeful.

"All we can do is keep our fingers crossed and hope that 2003 will start off with a positive note with us getting the nod," Austin said.

RNC officials haven't talked to Tampa leaders since early December. That silence might mean that Republicans have all the information they need about Tampa's bid. Or it could signal that they have spent the past month working out details to name New York as the convention site.

Austin called the silence "perfectably understandable." Since Thanksgiving, the national party has been consumed with the U.S. Senate race in Louisiana, the resignation of Republican Trent Lott as Senate majority leader, and the winter holidays.

Gov. Bush said he had spoken to RNC chairman Mark Racicot and White House political advisers Karl Rove and Ken Mehlman, although he did not say when those conversations took place.

"I think they'll be making the decisions -- my brother will make the decision I guess, but he will take the advice of these folks, so I've spent my time lobbying them."

RNC staffers and consultants have resolved questions about how New York officials would use the James A. Farley Post Office Building across from Madison Square Garden as a convention media center. The RNC gave New York officials extra time to answer questions about how they would convert the post office building into a center for 14,000 journalists expected to cover the convention.

Rick Michaels, another Tampa co-chairman, said he thinks the decision will come down to New York or Tampa.

He said, "I believe it is still a tossup."

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