K Street not thrilled with Tampa
By ANNA PALMER | 5/28/12 4:51 AM EDT
Republicans aren’t living up to their moniker — the Grand Old Party — at this summer’s national convention.
Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, Time Warner and United Airlines aren’t on hosting duty. Trade groups like the American Chemistry Council, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association and the International Franchise Association are planning on staying home as well.
Many of the K Street outfits that are going plan to cut back from years past - hosting lunches instead of blowout parties, for instance.
The combination of tight corporate budgets, ethics rules and unappealing weather — the average high for Tampa in August is 90 degrees — and it’s a recipe for trade groups and lobbyists to spend time anywhere but Florida. Plus, Mitt Romney is anything but a creature of Washington, making him less of a draw for the inside the Beltway crowd.
The strict Democratic convention rules, which don’t allow corporate contributions, are also dissuading companies from getting involved in Tampa because they are concerned about maintaining parity among Republican and Democratic activities.
Read much more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0512/76783.html#ixzz1wA4G1nwd
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