GOP leaders head to Salt Lake City to consider convention bid

SALT LAKE CITY — Think of it as a bid for the political Olympics.

Utah bidders will be wining and dining GOP leaders next week in the hopes of being awarded the party's 2012 national convention over rival bidders Tampa, Fla., and Phoenix.

The Republican National Committee's nine-member site selection team arrives Monday afternoon for a three-day visit that will include plenty of reminders that the city successfully hosted the 2002 Winter Games.

"Clearly, the stuff we did during the Olympics is the foundation," said Scott Beck, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau, citing everything from security to the fun that delegates can expect to have.

But what Salt Lake City did to win the Olympics bid is a different story. The city, of course, was mired in a scandal over the cash, gifts, scholarships and other incentives given to garner International Olympic Committee support.

"I don't think there's any comparison to when Salt Lake was involved in the Olympic bid," said Lane Beattie, president of the Salt Lake Chamber. "This is very specific. They're in, and they're out. They're looking at venues, and they're gone."

And, unlike the IOC, the RNC has a policy in place limiting the dollar value of gifts that can be accepted by site selection team members. They cannot accept a single gift valued at more than $100, or multiple gifts that add up to more than $200.

Beattie said the convention bid is being paid for with private funds. Letters have gone out to some Republican supporters for help, he said, as have invitations to business leaders to purchase $2,500 tables at a welcoming dinner for the GOP bid team.

The dinner is scheduled for Monday night at Rice-Eccles Stadium, site of the opening and closing ceremonies during the Salt Lake Games and a legacy park featuring the cauldron that held the 2002 Olympic flame.

The $50,000 price tag to bring in the GOP bid team is an investment, Beattie said, in getting an event worth millions of dollars to the host city when the convention is held in August 2012.

"It's probably the biggest deal since the Olympics," Beattie said. "It's kind of one of those magic opportunities."

According to the RNC, the party's most recent national convention in 2008 generated $170 million for the Minneapolis/St. Paul-area economy. Convention visitors stayed an average of six days and spent $1,600, filling some 12,000 hotel rooms.