Politics

Tampa mayor ‘prepared to call off’ RNC if Tropical Storm Isaac hits Tampa

Alexis Levinson Political Reporter
Font Size:

Tropical Storm Isaac is on a collision course with the Republican National Convention. If it hits, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn told CNN, he is ready to cancel the convention.

“Well, absolutely, we’re prepared to call it off,” Buckhorn said, as the Bradenton Herald reported. “I mean, safety and human life trump politics. I think the RNC recognizes that. The organizers, certainly Gov. Romney, recognize that.”

“Whatever we do will be based on getting people out of harm’s way,” Buckhorn said. “Politics will take second place. All of us recognize that. The RNC recognized that when the picked Tampa as the host city.”

According to the Weather Channel, Isaac could be upgraded to a hurricane as early as Thursday. The Republican National Convention begins Monday.

At the moment, the storm is headed toward Cuba and Hispaniola. It remains to be seen whether the storm will continue into Florida, and if so, if it will hit Tampa. The storm could also continue westward to the Gulf of Mexico.

“It’s too early to give specifics,” according to the Weather Channel.

Despite the rainy forecast, convention planners are keeping a sunny outlook.

“We are working closely with our partners at the federal, state and local levels to monitor the weather — and we have contingency plans in place to ensure the health and safety of convention delegates, guests and visitors, and the Tampa Bay community. We are looking forward to a great convention,” said Kyle Downey, Press Secretary for the 2012 Convention when asked about the contingency plans.

Downey did not specify what those contingency plans would be or respond to an email requesting more information, nor did he say whether shutting down the convention was a real possibility.

If it does rain, convention-goers will have to stay dry without the help of umbrellas; they’re prohibited within the security perimeter of the convention, unless they’re “provided by Committee on Arrangements or the 2012 Tampa Bay Host Committee,” according to the Tampa Bay Times website.

Downey also did not answer when asked whether or not a hurricane would result in umbrellas being taken off that prohibited items list.

Follow Alexis on Twitter

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel