2008 Republican National Convention

2008 Republican National Convention

2008 presidential election
Nominees McCain and Palin
Convention
Date(s)	September 1–4, 2008
City	Saint Paul, Minnesota
Venue	Xcel Energy Center
Notable speakers	George W. Bush Laura Bush Joe Lieberman Rudy Giuliani Mike Huckabee Mitt Romney Michael Steele
Candidates
Presidential nominee	John McCain of Arizona
Vice presidential nominee	Sarah Palin of Alaska
Voting
Total delegates	2,380
Votes needed for nomination	1,191
Results (president)	McCain (AZ): 2,343 (99.28%) Paul (TX): 15 (0.63%) Romney (MA): 2 (0.09%)
Results (vice president)	Palin (AK): 100% (Acclamation)
Ballots	1
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2008 U.S. presidential election
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The 2008 Republican National Convention took place at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota, from September 1, through September 4, 2008.^[1] The first day of the Republican Party's convention fell on Labor Day, the last day of the popular Minnesota State Fair, though because of Hurricane Gustav, this day was mostly a call for action to help victims and formal, required activities; most of the politicking and partying did not start until Tuesday, the second scheduled day.

This was the latest any major party convention has ever been convened,^[2] and the first one to take place entirely in September. Traditionally, the party who holds the White House has the opportunity to select the date of its convention second, and normally the challenging party holds their convention in July while the incumbent party holds its convention in August. This year, later dates were chosen for both conventions because the parties wanted to schedule their conventions after the 2008 Summer Olympics ended.

President George W. Bush did not attend the convention (although he did appear by satellite), in order to oversee relief efforts to help citizens recover from Hurricane Gustav.^[3] The attending delegates at the convention nominated Senator John McCain from Arizona for president and Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska for vice president. 1,191 pledged delegates were necessary for candidates to win the respective nominations.