Prostitutes prepare for Republicans

Edit: Moderator: Moved from General News to Human Interest Stories

As New York gears up for the Republican Convention, escort agencies in the city are preparing for a boom in business.

Thousands of Republicans, including President George Bush, will descend on the city for the pre-election rally on August 30.

As will call girls and escorts, arriving in force to supply the anticipated spike in demand from delegates.

"We have girls from London, Seattle, California, all coming in for that week," a madam at a Manhattan escort service told the New York Daily News.

"It's the week everyone wants to work."

The Republicans - also known as the Grand Old Party (GOP) - are holding their convention at Madison Square Garden.

Escorts expect to be able to command anything from £150 to £600 an hour from delegates.

"We've got everything organised - the hotels, the flights, the advertisements," said another escort service operator.

"We'll probably have 60 girls that week instead of the usual 30."

Meanwhile, the Democrats cannot smugly condemn the "sleazy" Republicans, since political conventions of both parties have long been seen as a boon for the sex industry.

At the 1992 Democratic convention in New York, bikini-clad female oil wrestlers dropped their tops on a flatbed truck in front of Madison Square Garden.