It’s looking good for Denver’s quest to capture the Democratic National Convention in 2008, if you ask members of the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC). The DLC is in Denver for their “National Conversation” session.“The weather’s great,” chimed Mike O’Conner, former Deputy Mayor of Indianapolis. “It’d be fine with me to have the convention in Denver to get out of the humid Midwest.” The Democratic presidential nominating convention is scheduled from Monday, August 25, through Thursday, August 28, 2008 (after the Summer Olympics in Beijing.)
DLC member, Phil Noble of Charleston was also impressed with Denver. “Everything you want is walking distance downtown,” he noted. “We all agree back home that the Democrats have get off the East Coast in ’08.” Then he whispered a secret: “We hear New York is out.”
Wondell Smith, security sergeant for New Orleans mayor, Ray Nagin, said New Orleans was heartbroken to withdraw from the convention bid. “With half the city’s law enforcement still out of work, he explained, “there was no way to meet the security demands for the convention, let alone a host of other problems after Hurricane Katrina.”
Before we uncork the champagne, Mark Ivrey of the Brookings Institution put Denver’s chances into perspective. “Emotional responses, the weather and the scenery do not count into the decision to have the Democratic convention here,” the policy professional said. “It all has to do with media coverage, prime time TV, polling, Democratic strategy-and those other guys,” referring to the Republicans. “There will be a lot of things in play to determine the convention location,” asserted Ivery.
One of those items may be how successful Colorado Democrats are 2006, House Speaker Andrew Romanoff noted.
Denver may offer the background of majestic mountains and a promise of a Democratic stronghold in the West, but the decision to make this city the Democratic National Convention site could all boil down to a simple detail: when the East and West Coast voters sit down to watch TV.
