Detroit Should Bid To Host A Major Party Convention in 2020

[MikeyinBrooklyn]

There are a lot of pros and cons to hosting a national political convention. But I think for Detroit in 2020 the pros very much would outweigh the cons, and it would make good sense for the parties, too.

For Detroit, the long and the short of it is that it would be another chance to show off all of the city's improvements and massive downtown developments. Yes, it would also fill hotel rooms and restaurants and generate both income for locals & additional tax revenue for all levels of government. But really, there would be a huge amount of national and international press about the city's improvements, attractions & facilities.

If Republicans held their convention here, it would be a chance to remember the 40th anniversary of Ronald Reagan's successful Detroit convention & campaign. It would also serve as a celebration for Trump's 2016 campaign cracking the "Blue Wall" and winning the industrial midwest.

If Democrats held their convention here, it would offer an opportunity to show they are serious about winning back the "Trump Democrats" to their side. It would also give them a chance to show a major city with a Democrat mayor that is demonstrably improving city services.

I would imagine that Republicans would favor Little Caesar's Arena, with Democrats preferring Ford Field [[Democrats have many more delegates and officials to accommodate than Republicans do, making a larger convention facility preferable for them).

I'm an independent conservative, and not really a fan of either party [[left the GOP a year ago), but I can appreciate the business & marketing opportunity a major national political convention offers. I would very happily support either convention in Detroit [[or both; although it has been many decades since both parties had their convention in the same city; 1948 was the last that I can think of).

There are of course problems. The organizing committee needs to aggressively fund raise and plan details down to the minutiae. But we've demonstrated with the Super Bowl, Final Four and the annual Auto Show that Detroiters can do that.

Protests & demonstrations are also a big issue. But Midwestern cities are actually better than Eastern ones, in that they are much more spread out. So there can be plenty of places for protesters to gather and/or march while allowing the proceedings to get underway unhindered by the demonstrations. I think Detroit could host both a convention and the reaction to a convention peacefully and respectfully.

Thoughts?

[Bham1982]

Will there even be party conventions in 2020? I think it's an open question.

If there are conventions, Michigan makes sense, given it's a key battleground state, and downtown has the necessary facilities.

[MSUguy]

Absolutely not. Political conventions are such massive security nightmares today. Businesses in Cleveland made less money when they had RNC in town, no one local wanted to go downtown and deal with the mess and the attendees didn't make up for it. Maybe in past you could compare them to other events, but not now as they're so disruptive

[renf]

I think there is great merit in Detroit's hosting a convention in 2020. But there is the security concern. I assume the hospitality industry greatly benefits from a convention but if much of the downtown area has to be walled off for security reasons, many business might suffer.

Detroit has good air service to most US points and, by 2020, Amtrak should be offering higher speed trains to and from Chicago.

I assume that Detroit is not going to bid for the 2024 Olympics.

[MikeyinBrooklyn]

I can't imagine, Bham, that there won't be conventions in 2020. Do you think nominations will occur online, followed by a speech released on Youtube. Exact form, format & duration may get tweaked, but I am sure there will be national nominating conventions in 2020 [[and for some time beyond).

MSUguy, I think the conventions in 2008 & 2012 were probably more normal than 2016. We can't know at this point know how crazy the protests will be this far in advance. But think the CBD can be made safe for the conventioneers and the businesses alike.

[dtowncitylover]

I was in a town far west of Cleveland during the 2016 GOP convention visiting a friend. I learned that delegates were staying far and wide across northern Ohio. Even the hotels in Sandusky had state delegates in them! So the region needs to be prepared, especially for Dems since they have more delegates, that hotels from Detroit to Ann Arbor to Port Huron possibly even Flint, Lansing, and Toledo will be filled with delegates, media, and other convention related people. And if Greater Metro Cleveland did and pulled it off, I think we can too.

[EastsideAl]

Goodness gracious, i don't want one of these unpaid political ad crapfests in our town. Particularly in 2020, when they're far more likely to be a protest/security nightmare, and an overall giant, and potentially dangerous, pain in the ass. Especially the GOP convention - what city in its right mind would want to host that this time around? Just look at what happened to Cleveland last year and multiply it a few times. These days I'm not at all sure that it helps your city to be associated with these long outmoded and mostly unliked things.

Can't we just host the Super Bowl or the Final Four again? Or something else that people actually enjoy?

[MikeyinBrooklyn]

Businesses that do lose business for the convention week will hopefully be buttressed by the increased business the city should see in the wake of a successful convention. But I think if done correctly harmed businesses can be minimized.

Detroit has already in place more than adequate air service for either convention. We're talking about 10,000-15,000 people in town [[delegates, staff, media) for a political convention. And they arrive and depart over the course of more than a week. Amtrak will bring approximately 0 people, although I am not trying to start that argument in this thread.

Detroit should NEVER bid for the Olympics. I formerly hoped for it, but it is a disaster for almost every city that hosts it. I think Los Angeles & Salt Lake City did okay with them. But everywhere else [[Athens, Rio, Montreal, Sochi come to mind) lost bundles of money, and were left with a city infrastructure meant for visitors, not the locals. Add into that the notorious corruption now known to be involved in such endeavors makes the whole thing unseemly. And the very process of bidding is very expensive and tiresome for civic leaders.

[Bham1982]

I can't imagine, Bham, that there won't be conventions in 2020. Do you think nominations will occur online, followed by a speech released on Youtube. Exact form, format & duration may get tweaked, but I am sure there will be national nominating conventions in 2020 [[and for some time beyond).

I'm not talking technology, I'm talking democracy.

I think, given the horrible events of the last two weeks, and the looming constitutional crisis, there's a decent chance something epic happens that alters the U.S. framework, permanently.

Maybe there won't be elections held in 2020, who knows. There could be an emergency declaration of martial law, an independence bid from California or New York, an impeachment followed by a refusal to abdicate. There are plenty of scary scenarios that are at least plausible. The outlandish has now become possible.

[ABetterDetroit]

Goodness gracious, i don't want one of these unpaid political ad crapfests in our town. Particularly in 2020, when they're far more likely to be a protest/security nightmare, and an overall giant, and potentially dangerous, pain in the ass. Especially the GOP convention - what city in its right mind would want to host that this time around? Just look at what happened to Cleveland last year and multiply it a few times. These days I'm not at all sure that it helps your city to be associated with these long outmoded and mostly unliked things.

Can't we just host the Super Bowl or the Final Four again? Or something else that people actually enjoy?

Exactly. "Something people enjoy"

How about a Big Ten Championship Game? Why does Indy have a lock on that event long term with 2 major Universities in the conference just down the road? C'mon U of M and MSU stick up for Detroit some.

[MikeyinBrooklyn]

Can't we just host the Super Bowl or the Final Four again? Or something else that?

I think the Super Bowl only goes to Sun Belt cities, except as a one-off rewards to cities that build new stadia. Final Four, yes we'll host it again. But it's a long-term rotation. It'll be 10-20 years before we get that. WrestleMania? I bet we get it again 2027.

[Bham1982]

I think the Super Bowl only goes to Sun Belt cities, except as a one-off rewards to cities that build new stadia. Final Four, yes we'll host it again. But it's a long-term rotation. It'll be 10-20 years before we get that. WrestleMania? I bet we get it again 2027.

I wish for a day when Detroiters try and build actual functional urban neighborhoods, not event theme parks. These one-off events are fools gold and nothing to do with actually building something sustainable.

When something like the Super Bowl is viewed as a nuisance to day-to-day life, rather than an opportunity to "showcase" a city to a world that doesn't care, the city will be back. People generally don't even know where these events take place - was at a SB party last night, and a 4th quarter skyline pan led to the question "Where is this, Miami?" I don't think more than 2 or 3 people in the room knew the answer.

[Bham1982]

Exactly. "Something people enjoy"

How about a Big Ten Championship Game? Why does Indy have a lock on that event long term with 2 major Universities in the conference just down the road? C'mon U of M and MSU stick up for Detroit some.

Indy is more central for the B10 crowd and has a ton of convention hotels all connected to the stadium via skywalk. It really has a nice setup for such events. There's no such hotel around Ford Field; Indy has like a dozen.

Of course, it's downtown sucks, the streets are barren, and is even less urban than Detroit, but it's quite well-positioned for the big sporting events.

[Jason]

Absolutely not. Political conventions are such massive security nightmares today. Businesses in Cleveland made less money when they had RNC in town, no one local wanted to go downtown and deal with the mess and the attendees didn't make up for it. Maybe in past you could compare them to other events, but not now as they're so disruptive

I think that's because so many people were either boycotting it or just not interested, combined with the potential for something bad to happen. I think it's the same thing as the inauguration. Not many people showed up and a lot of people stayed clear. I'm guessing the DNC had more of an economic impact, but even that was less than it could have been, because it was held in an isolated sports district and the weather was bad.

I can imagine Detroit doing a pretty good job of it. The interior plaza of the new arena could be the high security area, Cass Park or Grand Circus Park could be the media city. None of the roads around the arena except for Woodward and the freeway are important for traffic flow so they could easily be closed. M1 rail and the People Mover would be convenient logistically. We have a good airport, a good time zone, and we're big enough to have enough hotels in the region and enough experience handling big events.

I also agree with MikeyinBrooklyn about the basic premise. Both parties benefit rhetorically from doing it in Detroit, and in 2016 both parties held debates here or Flint.

I don't think hosting the next RNC would be a good idea though. Depending on what happens with the Trump presidency there would either be a lot of drama, or there would just be really low morale. Or maybe that just means other cities won't be bidding for it and it would be easier for Detroit to win, lol.

[MSUguy]

Exactly. "Something people enjoy"

How about a Big Ten Championship Game? Why does Indy have a lock on that event long term with 2 major Universities in the conference just down the road? C'mon U of M and MSU stick up for Detroit some.

It'd be great to be in the rotation for that, but it's locked up in a contract for the next 3-4 years. The new arena is scheduled to host 1st and 2nd round of 2018 NCAA Tournament and Detroit bid on NCAA's next block of championships games in multiple sports so hopefully those will be successful.

[ABetterDetroit]

Indy is more central for the B10 crowd and has a ton of convention hotels all connected to the stadium via skywalk. It really has a nice setup for such events. There's no such hotel around Ford Field; Indy has like a dozen.

Of course, it's downtown sucks, the streets are barren, and is even less urban than Detroit, but it's quite well-positioned for the big sporting events.

Yep Skywalks. That must be it. Nothing to do with the corruption in College football around their neutral field games and the do nothing checks that Big Ten administrators collect for making sure that all that cash goes in one place every year so the perks are well understood as to who receives them. Somebody might not get their favorite suite and free meals if they actually moved it around to different cities within the conference area.

[Bham1982]

Yep Skywalks. That must be it.

Um, yeah, that's, more or less it. Americans are fat and lazy, and Midwest winters are damn cold. Proximity and climate control are huge issues when it comes to event planning.

As someone who has been to a number of conventions in Indy, I can tell you that the Indy arrangement of hotels surrounding a convention-stadium complex is incredibly convenient for visitors, and Detroit has nothing remotely equivalent. To do the same in Detroit, you would have to bus thousands of visitors from all around town, which is a tad more inconvenient than a 200m walk. And restaurants and bars are also easily accessible via skywalk.

Indy has a horrible downtown, but an excellent event setup. Barren streets while overhead skywalks hum with activity. Note that the biggest event venues in the U.S., Vegas and Orlando, have awful urbanity, while few such events occur in the best U.S. city centers. Manhattan has few conventions and no mega-sports extravaganzas, and is especially unsuitable for such events, largely because it's so urban.

[Jason]

I watched a brief documentary on it and I don't remember most of the details, but Indianapolis has a lot of events because in the 70s they made an extremely concerted effort to become that. Building facilities, doing the networking, positioning itself in various ways, advertising, they did all kinds of things.

[ABetterDetroit]

Um, yeah, that's, more or less it. Americans are fat and lazy, and Midwest winters are damn cold. Proximity and climate control are huge issues when it comes to event planning.

As someone who has been to a number of conventions in Indy, I can tell you that the Indy arrangement of hotels surrounding a convention-stadium complex is incredibly convenient for visitors, and Detroit has nothing remotely equivalent. To do the same in Detroit, you would have to bus thousands of visitors from all around town, which is a tad more inconvenient than a 200m walk. And restaurants and bars are also easily accessible via skywalk.

Indy has a horrible downtown, but an excellent event setup. Barren streets while overhead skywalks hum with activity. Note that the biggest event venues in the U.S., Vegas and Orlando, have awful urbanity, while few such events occur in the best U.S. city centers. Manhattan has few conventions and no mega-sports extravaganzas, and is especially unsuitable for such events, largely because it's so urban.

So OSU and PSU fans are not going to cheer their team in the Champ game because there are no skywalks at Ford field? Be serious. They aren't a insurance salesmans convention that much I can assure you, no problems getting them out of the hotel bar to actually attend the event.

[BankruptcyGuy]

The B1G Championship is in Indianapolis for one reason: the NCAA is headquartered there. There is absolutely no reason why Ford Field, now also centrally located, could not host this event.

Detroit's downtown blows Indianapolis's away.

[Bham1982]

So OSU and PSU fans are not going to cheer their team in the Champ game because there are no skywalks at Ford field? Be serious. They aren't a insurance salesmans convention that much I can assure you, no problems getting them out of the hotel bar to actually attend the event.

Detroit could obviously host B10 events too, as could a number of other cities throughout B10 country.

But the question was why Indy hosts such events. There are very good reasons for Indy's popularity for massive gatherings. It certainly isn't the local charm or urbanity.

[emu steve]

I was in a town far west of Cleveland during the 2016 GOP convention visiting a friend. I learned that delegates were staying far and wide across northern Ohio. Even the hotels in Sandusky and state delegates in them! So the region needs to be prepared, especially for Dems since they have more delegates, that hotels from Detroit to Ann Arbor to Port Huron possibly even Flint, Lansing, and Toledo will be filled with delegates, media, and other convention related people. And if Greater Metro Cleveland did and pulled it off, I think we can too.

Sounds like a winner!!

Although I think I'd bid on the Dems but not the GOP, because I don't know if Detroit would want to deal with protesters....

[MikeyinBrooklyn]

EMU Steve, protests will be significant for either convention, and need to be factored into bidding and planning.

The Democratic convention would bring more delegates and staff for sure. I think they use nearly twice as many delegates. I do think Republicans would spend more money per person, though. Just a hunch.

[emu steve]

EMU Steve, protests will be significant for either convention, and need to be factored into bidding and planning.

The Democratic convention would bring more delegates and staff for sure. I think they use nearly twice as many delegates. I do think Republicans would spend more money per person, though. Just a hunch.

I don't know...

What I saw in D.C. January 21, the anti-Trump folks can bring out demonstrators like we've never seen [[bigger than Vietnam era).

[detroitbob]

I'm not talking technology, I'm talking democracy.

I think, given the horrible events of the last two weeks, and the looming constitutional crisis, there's a decent chance something epic happens that alters the U.S. framework, permanently.

AGREE100% Bham1982
"...there's a decent chance something epic happens that alters the U.S. framework, permanently."

Since we hosted the RNC in 1980 and ushed in a regime that started the "government bad" movevemt as stated by the best actor to ever appear in a two term reality show that really led us to the current situation, Detroit should be center stage 40 years later. The city should be ready for a close up by that point. And the Democrats would be well served by snagging the time slot.
As a personal note i worked in the heart of downtown Detroit in 1980...and I talked with people [[local) who came downtown for the first time in 20 plus years. I also had the honor of meeting journalists from around the world and long respected USA media types. In all honesty one of the biggest draws draws downtown was at the the Hotel Pontchatrain as Elizabeth Taylor [[Warner) was staying there during her "married to a congressman period").
Security was tight then and would be even tighter in 2020 but we are the right city in the right place and its the right time.

I've shared thiese postings with several involved Democrats as a link to the site.