Can The Metrodome Inflate McCain's Chances?

Senator Barack Obama of Illinois is scheduled to accept the Democratic nomination for President August 28 at the home of the Denver Broncos, Invesco Field at Mile High, in front of 76,000 of his closest supporters and delegates, and with the Rocky Mountains as his backdrop.

The symbolism of the event was too good for the Democrats to pass up. Not only will it be the second time the party's nominee makes his acceptance speech outdoors (John Kennedy was the first, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 1960), but it will also fall on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr. proclaiming that he had a dream.

The rest of the Democratic convention will take place at Denver's Pepsi Center, now considered to be too small to support Obama's growing legions.

So where does that leave Senator John McCain of Arizona, who is scheduled to accept the Republican nomination in St. Paul a week later? It would be at the Xcel Energy Center, home of the NHL Minnesota Wild, before a relatively intimate gathering of around 20,000.

Will the GOP counter by moving McCain's acceptance speech to the Metrodome in Minneapolis? Here's why they should, and why they should not consider it.

First, why they should:

• The Metrodome has hosted a Super Bowl, two World Series, two NCAA men's basketball Final Fours, rock concerts, and a Billy Graham crusade.
• It seats 63,000 for football. You can squeeze in a few more people in there.
• No need to worry about weather.
• Better security.
• More bathrooms. (Insert your own joke here.)
• TV networks and other news services would finally get the name of the city right.

Next, why they shouldn't:

• The official name of the stadium is the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. Humphrey was a Democrat.
• Which would you rather have as your backdrop? A Teflon dome or an open sky?
• Like rats on a sinking ship, the Minnesota Twins and the University of Minnesota Golden Gopher football team are ditching the Dome in the next couple of years for their own stadiums. And the Vikings might follow if their stadium plan ever gets past the Minnesota Legislature.
• The Metrodome has often been criticized for being a cheaply made, oversized living room that few people love. That seems to describe the GOP, too.
• Minneapolis would once again snatch glory from the arms of St. Paul.
• McCain's oratory skills pale next to Obama's. That's like putting the guy who won American Idol up against Bruce Springsteen.

McCain's people say that their candidate doesn't care much for speaking in front of large gatherings, preferring the town hall meeting format instead. If this were any other election, that might have worked for him. But if the Senator from Arizona wants to win in November, he needs to pull out all the stops just to compete with a rock star.