Rumors are flying around the blogosphere about Obama possibly moving his DNC acceptance speech from the Pepsi Center to 78,000 seat Invesco Field. Now there's word out that John McCain may be looking to move his RNC acceptance speech from the 19,000 seat Target Center to the Academy of Holy Angels, one of the finest christian high schools in the Twin Cities metro area.
There previously was talk about the GOP shortening their convention to two days, due to general lack of interest. But now, talk is about doing "something different" on the last night. Could it be this?
What better place to accept the nomination for the most powerful job in the world? The gymnasium at the Academy of Holy Angels reportedly seats 850 people, and it's just a short drive from the downtown Minneapolis and the Target Center. This smaller space would result in a more "filled-up" room, proving McCain has the ability to "pack the house."
MinnConWatch has heard rumors to this effect as far back as June 2008.
An acceptance speech at Academy of Holy Angels may also help McCain burnish his Christian credentials. According to the academy's web site:
The Academy of Holy Angels is a Catholic, co-educational high school in Richfield, Minnesota--a suburb of Minneapolis/St. Paul. Our goal is to educate young men and women to be confident, prepared, and connected in faith.
Also, a source within the McCain camp has suggested his acceptance speech may be moved from a prime time evening slot to late afternoon, due to McCain's "need to get to bed at a reasonable time." The source suggested that the RNC may follow McCain's speech with a three hour "diversity roundtable", including diverse GOP luminaries such as Condoleeza Rice, Bobby Jindal, Sarah Palin, J.C. Watts, and Paul Wolfowitz.