The President Picks a Place

Richard Nixon looked over the list of cities bidding for his party's 1972 convention and did not like what he saw: Chicago, Miami Beach. Houston, Louisville, San Francisco. Said the President: "Let's get some more options. Let's get San Diego in there." Thus a city was suddenly on the list that initially did not care to be the site of a political convention--one that had fewer hotel rooms than other contenders, did not have adequate press space and refused to put together the cash guarantee the other cities had proffered. To the surprise of no one who knew the distance between San Diego and San Clemente (55 miles), San Diego last week was named host city for the 1972 Republican National Convention.

The Republican National Committee's choice was not made without opposition. Miami Beach, site of the 1968 Republican Convention and the 1972 Democratic Convention, dangled $1.1 million before the Site Selection Committee and when spurned, mounted a floor fight against the committee's designation. The citizens of San Diego objected even more strenuously. The convention, which opens Aug. 21, comes at the height of the tourist season, and hotelman are not enthusiastic over the prospect of canceling reservations to make room for the delegates. Taxpayers, who voted down nine bond proposals last June, see the cost of police protection and city services during the convention as an unnecessary revenue drain. Support for the convention was rallied by the San Diego Union--Administration Communications Director Herb Klein was once a Union editorial writer--but opposition was strong. Said one county official: "Everybody in San Diego wants the convention except the people." President Nixon's favor has even caused a rift within the local G.O.P. A Republican county committeewoman threatened to seek a court injunction against the convention. Says Mrs. Virginia Taylor, one of 15 candidates for mayor: "Our priorities are all backward. It reminds me of the old Roman days. The people don't have enough to eat, they don't have health care, they don't have a lot of things. So give them a circus."

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