On June 10, 2008, the Ron Paul Campaign announced the first promotional event for the organization, a "Rally for the Republic". After not being offered a speaking slot at the Republican convention, Ron Paul, who did not support GOP nominee John McCain, decided to stage his own parallel convention in Minneapolis. This event occurred at the Target Center on September 2, 2008, which was the second day of the GOP Convention. On July 22, 2008, the event's official website launched, which provided details of the Rally, and of other events which were to occur in the same week including a leadership summit, book signing, and free concert. Notable attendees were announced, including the Rally's emcee, MSNBC's Tucker Carlson, former Governor Jesse Ventura, Governor Gary Johnson, Barry Goldwater Jr., Bruce Fein, Howard Phillips, Thomas Woods, Bill Kauffman, Erik Vendt, Grover Norquist, Lew Rockwell, Barb Davis White and Doug Wead. Country music star Sara Evans and singer/songwriter Aimee Allen headlined the musical portion of the event. On September 1, more than 10,000 tickets were sold out. Most of the rally was broadcast live on C-SPAN 2 and a live stream was set up on the Campaign for Liberty website.