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In The Battle To Host The 2016 GOP, It's Alt Country Vs. Rock

DON GONYEA, HOST:

Call it the first official contest of the 2016 presidential campaign. Sure, the election's a couple of years away. Nevertheless, we have a pair of finalists. They are cities hoping to host the Republican National Convention two summers from now. In this corner, Dallas, Texas.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BIG D")

FRANK LOESSER: (Singing)You're from Big D. My, oh, yes. I mean, big D, little A, double L, A, S.

GONYEA: And the other contender, hailing from the shores of Lake Erie...

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BURN ON")

RANDY NEWMAN: (Singing) Cleveland, city of light, city of magic. Cleveland, city of light. You're calling me.

GONYEA: OK. To be fair, that song is not one you'd likely find on a Cleveland, convention pitch playlist, since the chorus is about how the Cuyahoga River, which runs through town, caught on fire back in the '60s. So how's this instead?

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CLEVELAND ROCKS")

THE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES: (Singing) Cleveland rocks. Cleveland rocks. Cleveland rocks. Cleveland rocks. Cleveland rocks. Cleveland rocks. Cleveland rocks. Cleveland rocks.

GONYEA: Even better is that this song is performed by a band called The Presidents of the United States. Of course Dallas can counter with some alt country royalty like Joe Ely, who sings here about the charms of approaching Dallas from the air.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DALLAS FROM A DC-9 AT NIGHT")

JOE ELY: (Singing) Did you ever see Dallas from a DC-9 at night? Well, Dallas is a jewel. Dallas is a beautiful site. And Dallas is a jungle, but Dallas gives a beautiful light.

GONYEA: Or they could always go with the theme song of Dallas' most infamous and dysfunctional TV family.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DALLAS THEME SONG")

GONYEA: Well, maybe not. We'll find out which city wins sometime later this summer. Already eliminated from the competition are Las Vegas and Kansas City, certainly not due to a lack of musical options. Democrats meanwhile have also begun the city selection process for their convention, but no finalists have been named. Their decision will come by early 2015. We anxiously await more songs.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DALLAS THEME SONG")

GONYEA: You're listening to NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

You're most likely to find NPR's Don Gonyea on the road, in some battleground state looking for voters to sit with him at the local lunch spot, the VFW or union hall, at a campaign rally, or at their kitchen tables to tell him what's on their minds. Through countless such conversations over the course of the year, he gets a ground-level view of American elections. Gonyea is NPR's National Political Correspondent, a position he has held since 2010. His reports can be heard on all NPR News programs and at NPR.org. To hear his sound-rich stories is akin to riding in the passenger seat of his rental car, traveling through Iowa or South Carolina or Michigan or wherever, right along with him.

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