My experience as an American Red Cross disaster responder for the last 20 years has taught me to expect anything and to prepare for the worst. So when I see hurricane experts discussing whether or not Isaac (now a tropical storm but predicted to become a hurricane this weekend) will hit Tampa, Florida during next week’s Republican National Convention, I start assuming it will happen and back it up from there.
It made me wonder: if the convention gets cancelled, what happens to the nomination of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan as the Republican candidates for President and Vice President? Does the convention have to be rescheduled? What are the alternatives? Could the hurricane derail the whole process?
I checked into the published Rules of the Republican Party, but they were rather vague.
So I turned to Ron Nehring, former Republican Party chairman for the State of California. It turns out he knows exactly what would happen, because he was involved in the nominating process at the Republican National Convention in 2008. There is a little know, behind the scenes part of the convention where the real action takes place. It’s a intriguing bit of insight to those of us who enjoy talking about process.
Once Nehring clued me in, I explained the details for a column in the Communities at Washington Times, the conservative social journalism platform. Read it here, and rest assured the nomination will still take place. Sorry Dems, the Republicans are far too well prepared.