civicfest

Found, in the Republican National Convention Minneapolis St. Paul Host Committee’s filings with the Federal Election Commission over the last few days: big corporate donations (Target, Best Buy and UnitedHealth each gave more than $1 million) and a sizable sum left over unused ($4.7 million). Together with analyses of donors’ lobbying activities, they tell a tale about the costs and benefits of throwing a party for the national Republican Party.

Lost amid the news accounts and watchdog reports: some of the lesser line items that suggest their own story lines. Here are a few, after the jump.

 
Among the widely trumpeted 8 billion RNC-related media impressions of the Twin Cities were a few distinctly negative impressions created by a Minneapolis Convention Center event called CivicFest. It was meant to draw 150,000 media representatives, schoolchildren, RNC delegates and other visitors to see exhibits such as a replica of the White House and to [...]