| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front: Politix |
| Denver may escape hosting DNC |
| 2006-12-18 |
| 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. So the host city has to come up with $55 million on top of providing space? Who's running the DNC, Kofi Annan? And the "seamless convention" part seems rather unfair, since no one else has done so. 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." "There probably is some sentimental favoritism toward Denver because the West is the new Democratic ground, and Colorado did so well in the last election," Waak said. "But everything I've heard is that this costs a lot of money to do and obviously New York is a much bigger city with a much bigger corporate base to raise money from." The Benedict Arnold corporations, as J. Forbes Kerry would say. |
| Posted by:jackal |
| #6 Oh nooooooo... not ANOTHER convention circus. I live in Manhattan, and these things f* us 8 ways from Tuesday. Prediction: If New York gets the convention, LOTS of NYPD will be putting in early vacation requests. That said, they did a fantastic job for the 2004 convention, and us 'normal' New Yorkers deeply appreciate it. |
| Posted by: Free Radical 2006-12-18 22:08 |
| #5 The original figure was 80 mil but since then Howlin' Howard has learned that Coloradoans expect their politicians to be graft-lite so he lowered the price. |
| Posted by: Whereling Ebbuque4617 2006-12-18 16:12 |
| #4 #3 - What the hell do they gain? (Except the hysterical pointing and laughing by everybody else.) |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2006-12-18 15:27 |
| #3 What a city could gain by hosting a political convention is dwarfed by what they lose. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2006-12-18 13:10 |
| #2 Here's what they've got to look forward to. Boston 2004. I remember it well: In addition to the events — such as a planned Tall Ships visit — cancelled by the city, widely announced rapid transit and road closures provoked thousands of area businesses (even outside the city) to shut down for the duration, and tourists who would normally have visited Boston at that time stayed away in droves. Furthermore, the anticipated gain in business in the restaurant trades never materialized, as security and other considerations kept the delegates to restricted venues. The Boston Globe estimated the economic loss to the city inflicted by the convention to be in the tens of millions of dollars. The plan was to basically shut down all access to the city between 3PM and midnight. And when even the Globe admits it was a fiasco, it was a fiasco... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2006-12-18 12:14 |
| #1 So, not only do they fuck up traffic, but they rape the city for money too. It DOES sound like the UN.... |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2006-12-18 11:59 |