You may have heard that both the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee have Phoenix on their short list for possible convention sites in 2012.

The RNC has done its walk-through of the three cities on the short list: Phoenix, Tampa and Salt Lake City.

How Salt Lake City got on the short list is a mystery to me. Conventions are typically held in either very convenient locations (by that I mean weather and amenities) or in politically important locations.

Let’s review the last four conventions for each party (I decided to go back four because those are the four I’ve attended).

In 1996, the GOP Convention was held in San Diego. Given the destination spot, it had lots of downtown hotel space and second-to-none weather. The Democrat Convention was held in Chicago, clearly a great venue and in an important state electorally.

2000 saw Republicans in Philadelphia, since Pennsylvania was critically important, and the Democrats were in Los Angeles, following the RNC’s San Diego reasoning of weather and amenities.

In 2004, in a post-9/11 world, the Republicans were in New York, which made a lot of sense.

Democrats in 2004 held their convention in Boston, which worked out well for Massachusetts Senator and Democrat nominee John Kerry. It’s pretty rare that a convention is held in the home state of the nominee (Boston was selected by the DNC in 2002, long before the Democrats settled on a nominee.) The last time that happened was in 1992 when the GOP held it’s convention in Houston and George Bush was the nominee (and yes, that was likely juiced, given that he was the presumptive nominee.)

The 2008 GOP Convention was in Minneapolis (or was it St. Paul?). Logistically, it was a disaster. It was picked because the mid-west was considered important electorally, but it couldn’t have been more of a hassle when it came to accommodations and events. The weather was fine, but it didn’t make up for the hassle-factor.

Democrats held their 2008 convention in Denver, which from a weather standpoint had to be great. Not sure how the accommodations worked out. It was also a good move politically, as Colorado has gone from red to blue in recent years.

So, given the balance among factors of political importance, accommodations and weather, how do the three GOP finalists stack up?

Salt Lake City should be written off. If the GOP picks a deep red state like Utah and the convention follows a second failed attempt for the nomination by Mitt Romney, it’s going to be awkward with a capital A.

Tampa has a lot of appeal politically. Florida remains a critically important state in the Electoral College count. Given that Tampa was passed over in 2004 and 2008, they have probably fixed whatever shortcomings in accommodations that they might have had. And, while a bit warm and muggy, it wouldn’t be too bad weather-wise.

That brings us to Phoenix. The hometown. A convention would be awesome, right? In reality, we need to think twice about this.

First of all, is there any place hotter in August than Phoenix? Well, yes, Death Valley is hotter, but that’s why it has the word “death” in its name. Additionally, Phoenix doesn’t have the downtown infrastructure that would sustain conventioneers and the convenience of proximity to the convention floor, hotel rooms and events. Besides, why do we want to bring people from every state in the nation and have them end up hot, tired and miserable? What are the chances they come back?

The Phoenix Business Journal ran this story last week. The thing that jumped out at me was this paragraph:

Earlier in the day, RNC members toured US Airways Center, the potential site for the convention; the Phoenix Convention Center, which would house administrative offices; and the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel and J.W. Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa.

Hold on. The J.W. Marriott Desert Ridge may well be Arizona’s premiere destination resort. But that’s the problem – it’s a destination resort 21 miles from downtown Phoenix. No one, really, wants to stay 21 miles away from the convention activity.

Which brings me to the beef that I have had with downtown boosters for years. When people think of Arizona for vacation, travel and conventions, they think golf, horseback riding, jeep trips, hiking and Sedona. They don’t think urban jungle.

We should embrace what makes us great as a destination: Arizona every month of the year except June, July and August. (Unless you are going to the mountains.) When people come to the Valley of the Sun, they want to be here when it’s -5 degrees back home and they can call their friends from the 14^th tee and brag about living the good life. This is why places like the J.W. Marriott Desert Ridge are so successful – because they provide what people really want.

So, let the Democrats pick Phoenix. I’d rather be in Tampa in August 2012.