Houston may host '08 GOP convention

Imagine Houston overrun with Republicans. Oh, wait.

Houston is one of 31 cities invited yesterday to compete for the 2008 Republican National Convention, and it looks like the city might go after the event. Though it's unclear who worked to get Houston on the list of possible host cities, we all know how much attention the Republican convention can bring a town — just look at New York in 2004.

The funny thing is, Mayor Bill White is a Democrat (even though he's officially nonpartisan in his role at City Hall). But that won't stop the city from pursuing the convention, said spokesman Frank Michel: "Houston is a business town, and we'll go after all the business we can get." Houston definitely has its share of convention-sized facilities, and the city is deep in GOP territory, but we hosted a Republican convention not that long ago — the 1992 convention, held in the Astrodome.

Also on the list of potential hosts are Dallas, San Antonio and New Orleans. When Houstonist first read the news stories, we thought New Orleans might have a chance because of the sympathy vote — but then we remembered that the GOP probably isn't crazy about New Orleans right now. The RNC will come up with a short list of cities by the summer and make a decision about the host city next February.