*Jeff Vinik recently put a halt to the rumors and made it official: He and his partners filed a rezoning application with the city to build a 400-room hotel on that prime property just west of the Tampa Bay Times Forum. Of course, the other rumors remain rife. What will he do with those 23 acres of nearby land he controls? How will he play it on Channelside Bay Plaza? And when will he buy ConAgra?
*Last week’s gathering in New Orleans for the Republican Leadership Conference spoke volumes about the GOP, a party that is inclusion-challenged as it struggles to win national elections. Being perceived as the older, whiter party is increasingly problematic for Republicans. Indeed, Democrats have won the popular vote in five of the last six presidential elections.
“We have a tale of two parties,” acknowledged Reince Priebus, the GOP National Committee chairman. “We have a midterm party that doesn’t lose, and we have a presidential party that’s having a hard time winning.” Allowing for some midterm hyperbole, he made his point. The GOP has a big, well-chronicled problem with blatantly skewed demographics and inevitable, image fallout.
But Priebus blunted that point when he shared the opening-night conference stage with reality television star Phil Robertson, the “Duck Dynasty” patriarch. Say what? How does this help the GOP with a big-tent approach to national campaigns?
“Two points,” explained Priebus at a follow-up press conference. “First of all, we don’t ever want to take our base for granted. We value the ‘Deliverance’ vote.
“Second, we think Robertson needs a bigger forum,” added Priebus. “He’s more than just a conservative, God-fearing cultural icon. We think he could actually help on a 2016 ticket.
“I’m serious here,” underscored Priebus. “Just because my name sounds like a foreign hybrid and I look like Forrest Gump doesn’t mean my message lacks credibility. We could conceivably double down, for example, with a Cruz-Robertson ticket or play up balance with, say, a Bush-Robertson ticket. Phil gives us flexibility, but he needs more exposure. That’s why we talked him into addressing the opening session of our national conference. We really lucked out.”