HONOLULU, August 21, 2012 – Taking the fight directly to the GOP’s convention, the Obama campaign is announcing that Vice President Joe Biden will be traveling in Tampa, Florida next week.
Like a frat boy during Greek Week, he is actually going to crash the GOP convention in an effort to steal the thunder, and media attention, away from the Romney-Ryan nomination.
The Drudge Report first broke the story early Tuesday, citing sources that a Secret Service presence was already in Tampa and preparing for the Vice President’s visit.
The escalation of political one-upmanship between the Democrat and Republican parties comes at an extremely inconvenient time. Generally, while activists of both parties have routinely appeared in cities hosting national conventions over the years, campaigns have refrained from the “nuclear option” of sending high profile administration members as a traditional courtesy.
Biden’s Tampa visit is an audacious move for the Obama campaign, coming hot on the heels of continuing conservative outrage over a Danville, Virginia speech in which he suggested that the policies of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan would put blacks “back in chains.”
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus dismissed the publicity stunt and responded sharply, telling Buzzfeed today that “The nice thing about going first is that whatever they do to us, we can do ten times over to them.”
Priebus added further, “You never know where we’re going to be.”
The GOP also faces the unknown variable of how Ron Paul’s supporters also in Tampa will react to Romney’s nomination, in spite of rumors of a standoff-ameliorating deal between delegates and the RNC.
As if this were not enough, Tropical Depression Nine, a storm roughly 965 kilometers east of the Leeward Islands may possibly hit during the convention. Combined with the Vice President’s appearance in Tampa, the GOP’s convention could be marred by divided press coverage and manifold inconveniences.
The Republican National Convention will be held between Monday, August 27th and Thursday, August 30th.
Read more: Vice President Joe Biden to upstage GOP convention in Tampa | Washington Times Communities
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