Chicago To RNC: Thanks, But We're Going To Have To Pass...

Of the 31 cities chosen to submit bids to the RNC for hosting their 2008 Republican National Convention, Chicago, Ill. Mayor Richard Daley said that they were going to pass, preferring to focus on a campaign to host the 2016 Olympic Games, according to spokeswoman Jackie Heard.

The RNC announced the 31 cities Wednesday, February 15th, in a news release that has been posted on their website.

According to the release, the other cities asked were Anaheim, Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Columbus, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Memphis, Miami, Minneapolis, Nashville, New Orleans, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, Sacramento, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, and Tampa.

Chicago hosted the Democratic National Convention in 1996. The last time the city hosted the Republicans was in 1960, when then Vice President Richard Nixon got the nomination for president, only to lose to John F. Kennedy.

One cannot help but wonder whether Daley is not just concerned about the 2016 Olympics.

With the ongoing scandals connected to the White House administration (the NSA, Plamegate, misinformation that led to the war in Iraq, Katrina, etc.) and Republicans in Congress (Abramoff, Tom DeLay, Bill Frist, etc.), accepting the offer could be viewed as lining up with the political party whose overall control of the federal government has left the country with a majority of citizens feeling they have been pushed aside. Polls show that the president's current job rating has slipped back from the small "bump" he got after his State of the Union address. So, it's not inconceiveable that Daley, a Democrat, is essentially trying to keep his city's distance from the ongoing negativity surrounding the Republican party.

And really, who can blame the guy?

DCF