AP: Denver May Not Land 2008 Convention

[Eugene]

Denver May Not Land 2008 Convention

By JENNIFER TALHELM
The Associated Press
Friday, December 15, 2006; 5:37 PM

WASHINGTON -- Mile-high hopes are dimming that Denver will secure
the 2008 Democratic convention. Democrats posted against-the-odds
victories in several statewide elections last month in the West,
making Denver an attractive choice for a party looking to expand
on recent gains in the Republican-leaning region. But even once-
optimistic Colorado boosters are lowering their odds to 50-50 that
Denver will beat out New York City for the convention.

Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar said this week that in private conversations
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean had expressed
legitimate concerns about whether Denver can raise the necessary
$55 million and put on a seamless convention.

Colorado Democratic Party Chairwoman Pat Waak said Friday that
whether Democrats will pick Denver "comes down to the practicality
of (Denver) being able to do this."

-snip-

Dean and the DNC have been mum about whether they are leaning
toward Denver or New York. A decision is expected before the end
of the year.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/15/AR2006121501437.html

[BlueManDude]

1. NYC is a bad choice.

[bigdarryl]

26. not if the primaries are setup for Hillary to win the nomination....thats

why it will be NY Hillary is the Senator from NY and to them that looks good. i agree it's a BAD BAD choice.

[BlueManDude]

34. It's like Kerry in Boston 2004 - a disaster in the making.

[IndianaGreen]

2. New York is a piss poor choice! We don't need another coronation

of a "favorite" son, or daughter.

[noahmijo]

3. Keep it in the southwest we are becoming a hotbed for progressive politics!

A little too soon for Az maybe, but why not somewhere in Cali? Actually I thought Denver was a really good choice.

[Clark2008]

28. Yep - there or in the Southeast.

Someplace where Dems NEED to get their message out in.

[noahmijo]

30. Exactly. In NYC or anywhere in the Northeast you're just preaching to the choir.

[Hawkeye-X]

4. Salazar is DLC

And his mouth needs to be stapled shut.

I take it with a grain of salt. I know in my heart that Denver will be awarded the 2008 DNC Convention.

(I live in Denver, btw)

Hawkeye-X

[MaineDem]

6. Money has always been an issue with Denver's bid

I hope this gets worked out; I know DNC members who will be very pissed off if the convention is in New York. I've heard rumors that the delay in announcing is because people are trying to work out details of a plan to get Denver the money. I hope that's true.

[bobbolink]

9. ~~standing by, stapler at the ready~~

:rofl:

[cali]

21. I'm so sick of that

shit. I don't care that he's DLC. He has every right to speak, even if doesn't pass your ever so rigorous ideological purity test.

[madfloridian]

5. Salazar said Dean had "legitimate concerns". Unions are a big part.

of the picture. I think the lack of union services nearly killed it in beginning. I think in one spot Salazar or someone admits that they feel Dean is giving every chance...that he would like for it to be there.

But there are practical considerations.

[Hawkeye-X]

31. That question has already been resolved

There is an union in place for most of the hotels here in Denver

[Kceres]

7. Would serve us (Denver) right if we didn't get it.

Colorado has a history of being quite anti-gay in case people haven't noticed. I'd love to have it here in Denver, but I'd sure understand if the DNC picked NY instead.

[SmellsLikeDeanSpirit]

8. Have it in Cleveland.

[Bombtrack]

18. NYC and Denver are the only 2 options now

check out wikipedia's entry on how it unfolded

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Democratic_Convention

[SmellsLikeDeanSpirit]

20. How come the primaries are earlier, but the conventions are later?

[KingFlorez]

10. It needs to be in Denver, it boost our chances of winning Colorado

It would be a good strategic move.

[snowbear]

11. More info on '08 Dem Convention site...

http://demconwatch.blogspot.com/

Bummer if it winds up in NYC, but nothing we can do if Denver can't raise the needed cash..

[vikegirl]

12. Thank god.

There are too many Salazar (ie, Bush apologist-type) D's here.

[paulk]

29. what is that supposed to mean?

would you rather there were more right wing, bible thumping, neo fascists? We've got quite a few of those in elected office already, seems to me...

[Hawkeye-X]

32. Say what?

There are many more progressives that DLC boot lickers here.

[madfloridian]

13. Today's update sounds cheerier for Denver.

http://www.9news.com/acm_news.aspx?OSGNAME=KUSA&IKOBJECTID=88a360e2-0abe-421a-00ee-15e0697a560a&TEMPLATEID=0c76dce6-ac1f-02d8-0047-c589c01ca7bf

DENVER - Another day, another lengthy phone call with Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean, but this time leading Colorado Democrats emerged "very hopeful" that Denver can land the 2008 national convention.

Cody Wertz, spokesman for Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colorado), said the senator joined Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, Governor-elect Bill Ritter, and others on a one-hour conference call Friday with former Vermont Gov. Dean.

After that conversation, Wertz says Salazar emerged "confident and enthusiastic" that Denver will show Dean it can raise the $80 million needed to hold the convention"

[SmellsLikeDeanSpirit]

14. Good news. NYC makes no sense at all.

The Southwest is going to be a huge swing region in 2008. More so than the industrial north.

[Lipton64]

15. Las Vegas seems to me to be a good alternative.....

lots of hotel room AND convention space. Either that or Portland. I would have said California but everybody's sick of California - they have it there too often.

[madfloridian]

16. It's been down to Denver or NYC for months now.

Sounding better for Denver today.

[SmellsLikeDeanSpirit]

24. Faux News would have fun with that one. *rolls eyes*

[Bombtrack]

17. Not only are Colorado's electoral votes a prize, aren't we looking at an open senate seat?

atleast a probable one?

[snowbear]

19. No open senate seats that I know of..

I just checked..

Ken Salazar (D-CO) Next election: Nov 2010
Wayne Allard (R-CO) Next election: Nov 2008

Not "super soon" anyway....

[Bombtrack]

22. Allard previously pledged not to seek a third term, take a look

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Wayne%20Allard%20&btnG=Google+Search&oe=ISO-8859-1&sa=N&tab=wn

various stories talk about the speculation on whether he'll run or not

[cali]

23. It is strongly rumored that Allard,

who very publically imposed term limits on himself, will retire. Rep. Mark Udall from Colorado's 2nd district, has already announced that he is running and has a war chest of something like 2 million already. Rep. Udall is the son of legendary dem, Mo Udall, cousin of Rep. Tom Udall of NM and the nephew of a former Interior Sec.

Udall is a strong liberal who places particular emphasis on the environment. His record regarding such hot button issues as abortion, stem cell research, the flag amendment and DOMA are good- he has voted pro-choice, pro funding fetal stem cell research, against the flag amendment, and against DOMA. He voted against the IWR and against re-autorization of the Patriot Act.

Even if Allard does go back on his pledge, Udall will give him a real challenge. Allard, btw, is widely regarded as one of the worst Senators of either party.

[Hawkeye-X]

33. I think he's referring to Mallard's term limit pledge

But I think he's going to break it anyway. He won't get re-elected.

[Ignacio Upton]

25. The only good thing about selecting NYC is that I could go to it

By commuting. Other than that, I would rather have it in a region where we intend to expand politically.

[hopein08]

27. If the issue is not being able to raise the $55 million, what city besides NYC and LA could really

raise that much?

Too bad there isn't a way to lower the cost. Otherwise, we are bound to be stuck with conventions in a VERY select group of cities which would be VERY bad, in my opinion.

Plus, if we do it in NYC, we're going to look like copycats of the RNC in '04. And that would be bad.