they -- they sort of have, you know, a specific set of six to eight sentences and no matter what the question is, that's what the answer will be. >> i didn't warn you that i was going to ask you this. what do the bubbles think of them? what do the two press corps think about the campaign? >> you know, it's a little bit different. i'm not sure that i've been in the obama bubble long enough to sort of have a really informed answer to that question. i would tell you that the romney bubble as far as the reporters have been together for a year now. it's almost like being at summer camp. sort of you know what is going to irritate every other person there.

sort of often stupid personal issues about where people sit on the bus or how -- things that someone says. in part because the obama campaign is not as on the road every day for a year in the way that the romney campaign has been. you don't seem to have that dynamic. are these microphones on? you know, to me i just want to get information. and i want to know what's going on. and so, i would much rather have people be not nice to me and be able to have something for a story.

when i started out on the campaign trail, the basic fixings for a campaign story is what the woman or guy says. the policy paper, they had you on the bus, and the reaction of people in the crowd. but now everyone in this room gets all of that, right? because we can watch the events live. we see the reaction on twitter. they post to policy papers. so what do you do? obama's events are all on tv. romney's events are almost all streamed on the internet somewhere. and so my job is to add something for our stories that, you know, whether it's sort of

pushing forward what the candidate is trying to accomplish or message that they're trying to push or, you know, what advertisement they're going to run next. things that you can get because you know the people and they're there and you see them in the bars. >> so take us behind the scenes a little bit. you mentioned the advisers millying about. and that's really amazing. like in the past campaign karl rove will drop into the center. tell us about that. >> early in the campaign in november or december, when a lot of it is in iowa, folks in iowa -- there is essentially one hotel in iowa that everyone stays at. >> the marriott? >> the marriott. it was one of the big faith and family events had been that saturday in the early afternoon.

i was essentially the only one at the bar and newt gingrich comes and sits next to me. >> at a bar stool? >> this was still at the end of the bar. they lost to michigan state in overtime last night. i watched the fourth quarter with newt because he sort of came, basically did the same thing i did. he went to this event. he finished up schmoozing with whoever he needed to schmooze with and he came to the bar to have a drink at the end of the night. the only other person there was a reporter. so we chatted. we both went to the same college. we talked about that. more than anything else we talked about the football game that was on.

you have less everything. there's less minders. there's less media. it's a much more intimate session. so you get to know both the candidates and the staff better. now if you're covering it you're not going to get close to this the candidates at this stage. but even the advisers, the president'sed ed advisers are sg in a different hotel than most of the press. but romney's people, you know, you will see, you will see stevens or aaron having a drink late. and you can mingle with them and get some information out of them that you certainly wouldn't get otherwise. >> reid epstein, you have fantastic coverage. he's on his way to the doctor to get a checkup. have a great fall. >> thank you so much.

>> thank you for reid epstein. we would like to thank bank of america for the continued partnership. these breakfasts are an important forum. and we appreciate bank of america's partnership in this amazing year, which is about to get more amazing in the year ahead. thank you in live stream land for being out there. we would love to have you join the conversation. for both the mayors, we'll get your questions that way. so we look forward to that. so i want to thank rich gold, who helped us with this event. he knows everyone. we appreciate that. so our first guest is, it's 48 days until the republican convention in tampa. mayor bob buckhorn is with us. mr. mayor, come on out. [ applause ]

thank you so much for joining us. the mayor is actually from here. the jaguars, is that right? >> class of 1976. everyone is counting how old i am. 53. soon to be 54. >> you have family here? >> i do. my brother is a photo journalist for cnn. if you see somebody who looks like me with less hair, that's my younger brother. and dad was upi. >> in the heyday. i was telling mike before we got here, i used to remember we only had one car growing up. o we would take my dad to work this the morning and come back and pick him up in the afternoon. i would look up in the national press club and he would be sitting there typing away, i'm sure a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. probably a bottle of whiskey in the drawer, banging away on an old typewriter and loving every minute of it. >> we're all about to invade the city. >> you are, indeed. i can't wait.

what do you hope we'll remember about tampa? >> i think for most people coming to tampa, it's an untapped market. many of the people, some of you in the room have never been to tampa before. for us it's a mid sized american city hosting an international event, that will be the most watched television event in the world this year. tampa is really a place that i hope people walk away with saying, wow, this is a city that i didn't know anything about. this is a city i would like to potentially come and visit again. the city i would like to invest in. and it's a really neat place. >> the convention itself will be in the tampa bay times forum. rich is saying he will throw a baseball out of there and thit river. i will eventually get to the gulf of mexico. will there be a beachy feel to the pregame and after game? >> i think so. in late august everything in tampa is beachy.

>> everything is sweaty. >> i don't think some realize how hot it is in tampa, florida, at that time. there will be a dynamic. many delegations will spend time at the the beaches. many hotels will be at the beaches. many will use this as an opportunity to stay at disney world and visit their families. you'll get the flavor of an ethnically diverse community. >> you want to talk about alternative opinions. you're a democrat hosting a republican convention. >> i am indeed. i hope they let me in. i really don't care what goes on inside the building. for me this is an economic development opportunity. and for my city it's an economic development opportunity. i look at this as a chance to showcase tampa for the entire world and to tell tampa's story. yes, i am a democrat. but i intend to be the best host that the republicans have ever had. my job is to replace ed rendell

as the favorite democrat. >> mayor rendell who is chairman at the time is very tran saxal. philly got it. the mayor did everything he could to make sure the experience was a good one. my experience is the same thing. i may disagree with some of it. but my job is to be the most. but more importantly to showcase it for the entire world. >> alternatives are expecting demonstrators. you had a team go to chicago to watch what a big demonstration is like. what did you learn? >> we did. we've been traying for this for a year and a half. i think the republican organizers and some have done 10 or 12 events have told us that this point in preparations, tampa is well positioned and well prepared as any city they've ever been in. so we're expecting demonstrations. i think the dynamic in the

country and the emotions around the election and the emotions around the economy will lend itself to fervent directions. we tried to accommodate everybody while expecting that people will behave. but we are training for those who choose not to. we will deal with them. we will deal with them respectively. and we will be happy to house them at the jail. we are hoping we won't. we will be prepared if we do. >> are you worried? >> i worry about a lot of things as mayor. i worry about hurricanes. i think we're as well positioned and as well trained as anybody could be for the event. we will deal with it. we will deal with it well. there will be incidents, i'm sure. we expect that. but we're going to do it in a

way, in a form, and a fashion that will make campaignians proud. >> campaignians? >> indeed. >> how real is the hurricane threat? >> well, we calculated it, actually. we haven't had one in nine years. >> you're due. >> no, we're okay. ultimately the decision to evacuate or not is mine. but we think that we're going to be fine. it's a tropical environment, we understand that. but we're ready and deal with hurricanes on a daily basis in terms of our preparation. so i think we're going to be okay. >> now both of the mayors are called new urbanists. people live on golf courses.

what have you done to try to get more people in? >> we really energized the downtown. our town has seen more growth in the last ten years. >> and we had the river walk. thankfully he came through just recently, which will allow us to finish the river walk. but specifically, i think tampa is leading the recession in florida, and it's being driven by young professionals who enjoy the urban environment. we tripled the level in other states because we drive so much activity down there. once people get exposed to the water front, they walk away like a lot of the delegates. wow, i never knew this city existed. this is a really cool place.

>> what do the young professionals do? >> it's a diverse economy. part of it is economy driven. >> who the largest employer? >> it depends. in downtown tampa it's probably one of the banks. we're still regional headquarters for a lot of the banking institutions. we have a big technology sector. we have cam e el's facility. applied learning and simulations. we have about 30,000 hotel nights every year from visiting surgeons all over the year who come from downtown ptampa to train in robotic simulations. it's trying to change the economic dna.

from real estate and tourism to a more technology evaluated economy. i've only been the mayor for a year and a half. so for me coming out of the recession and repositioning tampa to change the dna to make it a place where we can attract the best and the brightest, and keep our brightest young people is my mission. i've got a 6-year-old and 11-year-old. just like mayor fox. >> both girls? >> both girls. that's how i know god is a woman. if i want them to come home some day and not go to austin, texas, or to san diego or to some of the other technology centers i've got to create an environment that allows them to come home to a job that we warn. i'm very passionate about this. >> paint the picture for us. the main hall in the tampa bay times. the media will be in a convention center. tell us what it will be like to be there as a delegate or

journalist. >> well, you will be on the water. the convention center is on the river front. the two major hotels that will host delegations probably closest to governor romney are right there in the perimeter as well. you have harbor island across the channel, where 7,000 residents live. as well as folks staying at the westin there. you have the historic district what is literally half a mile away. so i think it's a pedestrian oriented environment. some of them distant beaches. >> they are. and here's this challenge for tampa and for charlotte. we are hosting major international events. we do this as well as anybody in the country. but this is a very, very different challenge for us as it is for the mayor. so the logistics and

transportation will be different than if it were chicago or new york or l.a. so they will move the delegations back and forth. tampa is really spread out. much more than charlotte. that's the nature of florida. but you know, a lot of people want to stay at the beaches. so from orlando to sarasota, delegations will be housed. >> how far is orlando? >> probably 90 miles. sarasota is about the same. >> and they're going to be driving down. coming downtown every day. >> yeah. but most of the delegates, if they're not in downtown tampa will be at the beaches in pinnellis county, which is about a 25-minute bus ride. >> one of the surprising things, i guess, or one of the catches, you're trying to get the federal funding that you needed for

securi security. >> i think both mayor fox and i spent a good bit of time in washington, d.c. both charlotte and tampa got $50 million for security. that wasn't an earmark. that was a necessity. we could not host the event without the security-related money. it's only security related money. just to give you an example, i am having to hire i am having to hire 3,000 more personnel. 50 will go to feed, clothe, house and equip those 4,000 law enforcement personnel.

so that $50 million will go. it's a serious, serious use of money for security related purposes to keep the nominees safe. in this environment of no earmarks that became a little challenging. but thankfully the congress came through and we are spending the money as we speak. >> how is fund raising going? >> it seems to be going pretty well. i'm not as involved as mayor fox is in charlotte. our host has resumed that. they estimate they will raise up wards of $50 million. so you have $50 million that i will spend on security related things. and then you have another $50 million of estimated delegate

spending. you're looking at close to $175 million. you're looking at close to 250 to $300 million invested in the local economy. it creates jobs and opportunity. small minority communities have an opportunity to invest. >> you think it's worth it. there are local skeptics. >> ask me in september. actually i do. in spite of all the challenges. in spite of all the sleep let nights. >> in spigt of the preparation, when this is said and dun, the world will have a different view of tampa, florida. i think any time we get in front of anybody as a city, inevidently we come away -- and there will be criticisms, we understand that.

our conventions know don't have much drama around them. it's possible governor romney will name his running mate sooner, which will really take away the drama. is it still worth having four days? should the conventions being modernized? >> you know, mike, it's been a trend that's been occurring. the last convention was the democrats in 1960. or actually in '56. have they become archaic? some would make that argument. the question is the vp pick on obviously on the democratic side, we know who that will be, barring some unforeseen circumstances. i would imagine governor romney will announce before the convention to get the bump going into the convention. what this does is energize the

activists. they will raise the small dollars. that will get energized for the election. is it a purpose that's worth $100 million in federal tax money? good question. >> what if it were three days or two days. does it have to be four days? >> shorter convention would still work. >> sure, i think so. but for tampa florida, for us to have the opportunity to tell our story, whether two days, one days, three days, i'm all in. whatever platform you choose to get your information, we're going to tell tampa's story? >> how does this differ from the super bowl? >> super bowl everyone comes to have fun.

this event, some will choose to do otherwise. super bowls, we can really do super bowls in our sleep. you know, plus the delegates, which were estimated about 6,000. plus the protesters, which are of undetermined numbers. we expect that. we're ready for it. we're praying for it. we know what their tactics are. i think for the most part, it's going to be a good event. >> you gave them the heist mman right? >> i didn't let them occupy much of anything.

i live in a place that would not be occupy friendly. >> what do you mean by that? >> there probably aren't a lot of democrats where i live. >> a gated community? >> no, no. it's not a gated community. but davis island, an island off downtown. set us free sor something. i didn't even -- i'm usually gone when it's dark and i come home when it's dark. i didn't really see it. i saw the picture in the newspaper. anybody and everybody. i'm not going to let someone take over the public park. for whatever purpose. we wouldn't let them occupy a park. most that did found themselves having to distract them later on

at great cause and great drama. >> what intel are you getting? >> well, the 99.9% of the people that come to tampa to offer an alternative view are good law-abiding americans. the less than 1 million are there to cause mayhem and damage. what we've seen here with the g-20s and g-8s is a group of people with no ideology, just intent on destroying whatever the system is. and so, we anticipate that they will be here. some of the same folks that you saw at the united nations event in chicago will be in tampa. we've been monitoring their activities. we studied their tactics, and we'll be ready for them. but you can assume that they will be there. >> there can be broken windows.

>> we hope not. but we'll be prepared if they choose to go down that path. >> mayor, tell us about the burn steakhouse. >> it's a world renowned steakhouse in tampa, florida. i will tell you with a great deal of certainty, it's the best steakhouse that any of you have ever been to. it's got the largest wine collection of any restaurant. we think certainly in america. 180 page wine list. the wine list is about this big. folks used to steal it. so they have it chained to the table. but for those of you coming to tampa. if you are lucky enough to get a reservation at burns, it's well worth it. i would definitely do it if i were you. and enjoy yoy yourself. burns is well worth the visit. >> where else and what else

should we eat? >> i also heard politico is picking up the tab for us? >> for you, for sure. >> that's all right. then i'd have to read about it. what you would find in tampa, florida -- you know what a pie te is? >> paella. if you laid out the ingredients of a paella before you would say none of it works. that's what tampa is. we are his tannic. we are latino. we are italian. we are cuban. we are a metaphor for america. we are a peitre dish for america. we speak three languages. spanish, italian and english.

in some case there is are words in tampa that don't exist anywhere else. because all the cultures mix together and intermarry. >> what's an example of one of the words? >> yeah, the spelling of seven in spanish. but in ebor city it was septima. that's what they call it in ebor city. it's so engrained it's on the street signs. >> i would love to bring you into the conversation. question for the mayor, sir? and if you don't mind just saying your name? >> the one percenters have aults been a big presence at the

conventions. given the caps are off and billionaires are now spending as much as them. have you seen in upsurge by the fat cats that finance their elections? >> spenot a huge up surge. and again, bear in mind i'm not as involved on the fund raising side as the host committee is. what i have seen is corporate partners who have made contributions to the convention doing significant legacy projects that will stay behind after the convention. for example, humana is building a large playground in one of our inner city neighborhoods. at&t is upgrading all the infrastructure in downtown tampa. so you're seeing a lot of