The Republican National Committee has chosen Cleveland, Ohio to host the 2016 GOP Convention.

Cleveland is as good as most cities - not as good as some others. If the thinking is that it will bring in some votes in this battleground state, perhaps the RNC should have asked Mitt Romney how his Florida convention helped him win that state?

He didn't of course. Which makes the choice of Cleveland largely irrelevant as far as politics is concerned.

BBC:

The Republicans are eager to retake the White House in 2016 after eight years in opposition under President Barack Obama. Many Democrats, meanwhile, are pinning their hopes on popular former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The Republicans' choice of a city in Ohio is noteworthy because the state is perennially one of the most fiercely contested in the nation.

It offers a prize of 18 electoral votes - there are 538 in total, with 270 needed to win the White House - and is virtually evenly divided between Republican and Democratic voters.

In every presidential election since 1964, the candidate who wins Ohio has won the election.

"Cleveland is a world class city that has demonstrated their ability to provide our next presidential candidate with a launching pad to the White House," Republican National Committee site selection chairman Enid Mickelsen said in a statement.

"I look forward to working with Cleveland in the coming months to ensure the Republican convention is the best yet."

The Democrats are said to be weighing Philadelphia, Phoenix, Brooklyn and another city in Ohio - Columbus - for their convention.

All the jokes about Cleveland will no doubt be trotted out, but really, Cleveland has had something of a makeover the last decade or so. It has some really good beef houses (my personal yardstick of how good a city is), and has enough to do that you won't get bored if you stick around a few days.

The peoplea are nice - a lot friendlier than Chicagoans. All in all, some may have preferred Vegas, but Cleveland will do alright.