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Cleveland and Dallas are the finalists for the 2016 Republican National Convention. That鈥檚 what GOP officials announced on Wednesday as they dropped Denver and Kansas City, Mo., from the list of possible host cities.

The party鈥檚 site selection committee visited candidate locations before making its choices. 鈥淐leveland and Dallas demonstrated their ability to host a phenomenal convention in 2016, and the [Republican National Committee] is excited about the prospect of hosting our convention in either of these great cities,鈥� said selection committee chairwoman Enid Mickelson in a statement.

Initial reactions to the announcement were mixed. Well, they were 鈥渕ixed鈥� in the sense that some reporters and Republicans were merely glum, while others were plunged into despair.

鈥淐leveland and Dallas? You have to be kidding,鈥� , a former spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner who is now a vice president of communications at America鈥檚 Health Insurance Plans.

鈥淚鈥檇 rather be lit on fire and pushed into traffic while listening to Nickelback than go to Dallas in the summer,鈥�

Earlier high hopes may have led to these, um, overreactions. Las Vegas was an early front-runner, as its bid was backed by Republican billionaire and super-donor Sheldon Adelson, and it has enough hotel rooms to hold the convention within a relatively small area. But Sin City withdrew in May for the stated reason that it could not guarantee an arena would be ready in time.

Then there was Denver. It has pleasant summer weather, adequate hotel rooms, and it鈥檚 in a purple state where Republicans hope to make gains. What鈥檚 not to like?

Possibly Colorado鈥檚 experiment with legalized marijuana, that鈥檚 what鈥檚 not to like. Hundreds of Republican delegates would have been walking the streets only blocks from weed dispensaries, with thousands of reporters hanging around. What could possibly go wrong?

鈥淲hy introduce an issue that鈥檚 divisive and potentially embarrassing for your party if you don鈥檛 need to?鈥� , an associate professor of political science at Denver University, in a blog post on this subject earlier this month.

So Cleveland and Dallas it is. In truth, Cleveland is very pleasant in the summer, with a Lake Erie shoreline and generally blue skies. It鈥檚 in Ohio, the most crucial of all swing states, so perhaps that will swing the GOP鈥檚 final choice.

Dallas is wealthy and vibrant and not that hot in early summer, when RNC chair Reince Preibus says he wants to hold the proceedings so as to get an early start on presidential campaigning.

We鈥檒l close our eyes and choose Dallas the likely winner. (We鈥檙e already wrong 鈥� originally we thought it would be Vegas.) That鈥檚 because a party gets no electoral boost in the state where it holds its national convention.

Democrats aren鈥檛 as far along in making their convention choice, by the way. They鈥檝e still got six cities on their list: Birmingham, Ala.; Cleveland; Columbus, Ohio; New York; Philadelphia; and Phoenix.