Indianapolis may court political conventions - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

After the Super Bowl comes to Indianapolis, the city could be in line to host the equivalent of a political Super Bowl. Efforts are being made to make Indianapolis a possible presidential candidate nominating convention, but you might be surprised at who doesn't think it's a good idea.

Disappointment was evident when Indianapolis lost out in its effort to host the Republican National Convention in 2000.

As the city skyline will attest, a lot has changed in the last 11 years.

"We have the rooms now. Anything that would have held us back, we've addressed that," said Eric Holcomb, Republican Party state chairman.

The city now boasts more hotel space, the construction of Lucas Oil Stadium and the convention center expansion.

"We have the ability to get this done and I think we should try it," said Dan Parker, Democratic Party state chairman.

Indianapolis' push for a political convention is already underway. The Democratic National Committee has already been here to visit. They came during the Indianapolis 500.

Suprisingly, one man who was instrumental behind the scenes back in 2000 is not so sure. Gov. Mitch Daniels helped crunch the numbers.

"No place can put together a better convention than Indianapolis. You'll see that this weekend with the Big Ten football game and again at the Super Bowl. However, a presidential nominating convention can be financially troubling for the host town. The one look I had at it a few years ago convinced me you want to be very very careful. You could wind up losing a lot of money. Probably more than all the attention is worth," said Daniels.

Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard agrees.

"The cities have to raise a lot of money to do that kind of thing. Some is raised nationally but some locally too. We raised a lot of money locally for the Super Bowl so I think it might be problematic in the near term," said Ballard.

Democrats, however, have been encouraged to enter the fray after the Super Bowl.

"I think that is the next step for this city to undertake and be the spotlight for the world. 2016 would be a great year for a Democratic Convention to come to Indianapolis. It's our state's 200th birthday. If we can host a Super Bowl then we can host a national convention," said Parker.

First things first. The city will host the Big Ten and then host the Big Game. Then it will have to determine if it wants to be in the political Big Time.

The 2012 cities are already set. The Republican National Convention begins August 27 in Tampa, Florida.

The Democratic National Convention begins in Charlotte, North Carolina on September 3rd.

As for 2016, besides Indianapolis, Newark, New Jersey is already expressing interest in hosting one of the major political parties as it nominates its presidential and vice presidential candidates.

Note: Gov. Daniels may have pulled out of the presidential sweepstakes but the Republican Governors Association elected him as its new policy chairman. Daniels says he will try to help governors learn from each other. He says a more effective governor is a more electable governor.