TAMPA — In an area that’s still somewhat miffed at its governor’s refusal of $2.4 billion in federal funds to build a bi-partisan-supported high-speed rail, the Republican National Convention is a welcome opportunity for local businesses and government agencies. Regardless of party affiliation, most can agree that the convention organizers‘ projected 40,000 attendees and 15,000 journalists will inject much-needed cash into the local economy during their four-day stay.
Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn said, according to Tampa Bay Online, “This is our opportunity, unlike any time we will ever have, to tell Tampa’s story. We will never get this opportunity again.”
Al Austin, a mainstay national Republican Party fundraiser, took it a step further, calling it “the biggest economic opportunity the state has ever had.”
There are some, though, who are anticipating the August convention for an entirely different reason.
According to TampaBay.com, Tampa police are expecting up to 15,000 protestors to converge on the city’s downtown area.
Until recently, organized protests and marches seemed to be things of the past, tools that had lost their social relevance. For younger generations, the terms “protest” or “march” would previously bring to mind history book images of Tiananmen Square and Dr. King standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in front of a sea of people.
Today, those terms ignite real-life recounts of Occupy Wall Street campsites and Trayvon Martin rallies. For many, social networking has played a significant role in their perception of, and possibly participation in, those events. Social networking sites have helped to mobilize an entire generation for whom the art and the power of protesting may have been foreign.
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