GOP to use Cruise Ship for NYC Convention

[slkinsey]

"There are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns."

It's all so clear now!

[bilrus]

Er... uh... doesn't just about everyone carry germs in their GI tract?

Obviuosly, but the question is what germs. "Sanitizing" a peson's hands on boarding a ship only takes care of the issue for that moment. If the person is inherently unsanitary bad germs will be passed along regardless of the initial "sanitizing" since it is so limited.

I'm not sure about the specifics, but in the Democratic Party labor union concerns are pretty high. If the cruise ship isn't unionized they will have a hard time getting much support from Democaratic legislators and organizations.

Most hotels are for the most part union shops.

Bill,

This is a republican convention not democrat. In any case, what does that have to do with sanitizing?

Duh - I meant to quote the post above this one - about the potential for this happening at the Democratic Convention in Boston as well.

Besides - isn't it obvious that we Democrats are much more healthy and hygenic than the Republicans?

[docsconz]

[slkinsey]

Hey! Come on now... they're politicians on both sides.

I'd say they're equally unhealthy and unhygenic.

[Fat Guy]

It's not likely that any cruise ship is unionized. I doubt they could even pass muster under domestic labor laws. Most everybody on a cruise ship works 24/7 without overtime, and for the Phillipine, Indonesian, et al. lower-level crew members and staff it can be virtually an indentured servitude situation.

Republicans need to worry about union relations as well, though, especially at the party level where endorsements are so important. The Teamsters, for example, have a history of endorsing Republican candidates, including Reagan and the elder Bush. So this move is probably a mistake from that perspective as well.

[jbraynolds]

I have clients from the Midwest and Texas coming into NY on a regular basis and, at the risk of stereotyping, they like to do the stuff that DeLay seems to be after. They like cruises, they like routines and most of the NYC cliches (stay at Doubletree, eat at chains, shop at Gap/Niketown/FAO/now American Girl, see the rink, the tree, the Meg Ryan deli, try to get into Rao's and on and on and on). Say what you want about DeLay but it looks like he knows his constituency and their fears of The Big Bad City and liking their routines.

[jbraynolds]

And I wouldn't count on many Republican conventioneers going to Chinatown. Ruby Foo's, yes, Yeah or Noodletown, nope. They won't be going to Corner Bistro, either, not when there's TGI Friday's.

[Fat Guy]

I have friends in Texas and the Midwest who read the Times dining section, stay up-to-date on eGullet, and when they come to New York City eat a heck of a lot better and more intelligently than most New Yorkers who call themselves foodies. Some of them -- most of them? -- are even Republicans.

One thing to remember is that convention delegates (either party) tend towards affluence, higher education, etc. -- the demographic that tends to choose Sparks over Outback and Babbo over Olive Garden. I believe I read that more than half the delegates to each convention are in the $75k+ income bracket, and that most of the union "members" at the conventions are actually union bureaucrats. And union bureaucrats know good food, that's for sure.

[Fat Guy]

And I wouldn't count on many Republican conventioneers going to Chinatown. Ruby Foo's, yes, Yeah or Noodletown, nope. They won't be going to Corner Bistro, either, not when there's TGI Friday's.

I can virtually guarantee you that if you go into any restaurant in Chinatown tonight and take a poll, the clientele will be overwhelmingly Republican even in the middle of New York City. Likewise, I'd be interested to see the results of a similar survey taken at TGI Friday's. Do you have any information indicating that TGI Friday's is preferred by Republicans over Democrats? I think the decision regarding which restaurant to visit tends to be far more closely related to wealth, education, sophistication, travel opportunities, etc., than to political party affiliation.

[Bux]

I have relatives in the Midwest and when they come to New York City eat a heck of a lot better and more intelligently than most New Yorkers who call themselves foodies, but they often don't do it by choice.

[bilrus]

I think the decision regarding which restaurant to visit tends to be far more closely related to wealth, education, sophistication, travel opportunities, etc., than to political party affiliation.

Within relatively small geographic areas people of similar demographics tend to affiliate with the same party. But across wider geographies this doesn't hold true.

Republicans (or Democrats) in New York City are going to be far different demographically than their counterparts from Mississippi or Colorado.

My guess is that since the demographics are so variable within the parties it would make it hard to pin down where one party comes down culinarily.

[Busboy]

One thing to keep in mind when making gross generalizations about either party is that delegate selections are usually weighted by geography and past voting records. The Republican Convention will draw more heavily from southern, rural and midewstern states than the Democratic Convention. In addition, various mechanisms of the selection process will weight the delegate selection towards "Republican" regions of an individual state. Relatively few members of the California Republican delegation, for example, are likely to be from Downtown LA, or the Bay Area. Likewise, when the Democrats go to Boston, there will be proportionately (compared to their share of the state population) fewer delegates from the Central Valley.

Regarding the fact that delegates (speaking bipartisanly, here) have relatively high incomes, my experience with activists and elected officials almost anywhere is that they tend to be almost aggressively insular, because of the demands of their constituencies. Not to pick on the President but he's a perfect example. Money guys and consultants --ie, non-delegate attendees -- are much more likely worry about fine or ethnic dining.

Also, as I mentioned earlier, a lot of these guys don't really care where they are. This is like Super Bowl tickets: getting to the Game and hanging out with your buddies is the main thing, everything else is just gravy.

Edited December 2, 2003 by Busboy (log)

[bilrus]

Money guys and consultants --ie, non-delegate attendees -- are much more likely worry about fine or ethnic dining.

Speaking as one of this group (consultants, certainly not money guys) - I will guarantee you that I will be on eGulllet next summer soliciting opinions for good restaurants in Boston and not going to Friday's or some big tourist trap.

[Busboy]

Money guys and consultants --ie, non-delegate attendees -- are much more likely worry about fine or ethnic dining.

Speaking as one of this group (consultants, certainly not money guys) - I will guarantee you that I will be on eGulllet next summer soliciting opinions for good restaurants in Boston and not going to Friday's or some big tourist trap.

Maybe I'll have a chance to join you...

[bilrus]

The eGullet Caucus is formed.

[bloviatrix]

The eGullet Caucus is formed.

Fighting for Truth, Justice, and a good meal.

[Busboy]

The eGullet Caucus is formed.

Fighting for Truth, Justice, and a good meal.

Washington needs us...

It's worth noting, as we discuss the dining habits of politicians and activists, that of all the neighborhoods offering a variety of restaurants, Capitol Hill is undoubtedly the worst in the city.

[jbraynolds]

It would be good to reflect on what happened in Atlanta at the Summer Olympics a while back (I'm in the wine import business do deal with people at all links of the chain, especially with restaurants). High-end restaurants and hotels and retailers invested a boatload in anticipation of a huge influx of business that never happened. Why? The attendees gravitated to chain hotels, chain restaurants and mainstream shopping because they're a mainstream crowd. Winter Olympics patrons are quite a bit different and histotically indulge in more upper-end consumerism. You had high-end, gastronomic restaurants laying in expensive wine, re-doing their rooms, etc. and the customers never materialized. I had plenty of people lamenting that they "expected big-spenders and only the fanny-packers showed up". I wouldn't call it grossly generalizing, I'd call it looking at the demographics. A food freak from Tulsa (my hometown, btw) is quite a bit different than a delegate of any party from the same town. I know a few from there and exploring the latest in regional Italian, Thai or Chinese cooking or grabbing some cookware at Bridge won't be on their dance list, sorry to say.

[slkinsey]

Administrative note: As mentioned upthread, it is not the mission of eGullet to talk politics. We are here to talk about subjects relating to food and the food business. As a result, we are keeping a close eye on this thread and deleting any posts that move in a direction substantially away from those core subjects, or which contain unreasonably political or partesan language.

It is, of course, impossible to divorce this discussion entirely from politics due to the nature of the entities and individuals involved. We thought this was an interesting, relevant and important topic for discussion. As a result we have allowed a series of initial posts to stand at the top of this thread, despite containing some overly political references and language, in order to frame the discussion. At this time, discussion here has reached a point of development where those remarks are no longer needed in that capacity, and they have been removed from the top of the thread.

We hope we can continue to discuss this topic within the context of eGullet's mission to serve as a forum for food, food-business and related discussion. There would seem to be plenty do talk about here within that framework. We will continue to monitor this thread closely and will remove any posts that contain overtly political language and/or trolls, and those which do not address food and the food business. If keeping this thread in line proves too burdensome from an administrative standpoint, we'll send in the ferrets and lock it to further discussion.

[vengroff]

It's worth noting, as we discuss the dining habits of politicians and activists, that of all the neighborhoods offering a variety of restaurants, Capitol Hill is undoubtedly the worst in the city.

It's amazing isn't it? There are some seriously bad, yet wildly popular places on the hill. Both Pennsylvania and Massachusetts Aves. have their fair share. You regularly see tables of 10-20 congressional staffers in these places so busy fawning over their members that they completely fail to notice what total slop they are being served.

[Blondie]

I can virtually guarantee you that if you go into any restaurant in Chinatown tonight and take a poll, the clientele will be overwhelmingly Republican even in the middle of New York City.

Really? Why would that be?

[hillvalley]

It's worth noting, as we discuss the dining habits of politicians and activists, that of all the neighborhoods offering a variety of restaurants, Capitol Hill is undoubtedly the worst in the city.

It's amazing isn't it? There are some seriously bad, yet wildly popular places on the hill. Both Pennsylvania and Massachusetts Aves. have their fair share. You regularly see tables of 10-20 congressional staffers in these places so busy fawning over their members that they completely fail to notice what total slop they are being served.

About 15 or 20 years ago there was a French/Japanese restaurant on Penn. Ave across from the Hawk N' Dove. That was the last time we saw inventive cuisine on the Hill.

The best thing about both conventions is that the transplants here in DC to work on the Hill leave the city for the rest of us. Getting a reservation at one of the many steakhouses that have cropped up since the Texans came to town will be much easier.

If the Republicans (and Democrats) are too stupid to realize that they could a)send a major boost to the local economy and b) eat some great food during their convention then we should think about who we vote into office.

[Fat Guy]

Blondie, my understanding is that Chinese-Americans, especially recent immigrants, are one of the most atypically conservative groups in New York (along with Filipinos). And they form the majority of the audience in most any Chinatown restaurant. But I digress. The point I was trying to make is that political party affiliation has little to do with culinary preference; rather, if one belongs to a demographic group that's likely to lean one way or the other politically, that's going to be the overwhelming factor. If that group happens to populate a given type of restaurant in a given neighborhood, the restaurant's audience is going to reflect the political composition of that demographic. Which will in the end not affect what the restaurant serves, except maybe for the tribute to Chairman Mao on the menu at Grand Sichuan, which would probably need to be yanked in Tulsa.

[jbraynolds]

Here's who I'll bet will most profit from the convention: steakhouses. I've spent 5 days a month for the last 4 years in Texas, Mr. DeLay's state, and I have never seen a more single-minded culinary obsession, anywhere. Yes, I include New York and San Francisco and their Chinese places. It's amazing. The food columns in Dallas squeal every time a new steakhouse opens (seems like every week, no joke) "what, another steakhouse?!?". And, guess what. They're doing great business. Morton's has 3 locations in TX, The Palm has 3, Ruth's Chris has 7, Smith & Wollensky has 2, Capital Grille 2 and Del Frisco's is based in Dallas. and Sullivan's and lots of "entry level" chain steak going on there as well. I'd also bet that big/brand-nameCalifornia Chardonnay, Cabernet and Merlot will do pretty well, too. Load up on the Silver Oak, Sonoma Cutrer, Beringer, Duckhorn and Cakebread!

[Fat Guy]

How many people come to town for a convention? How many of those are delegates?