Spring Break
Denver wins Democratic National Convention 2008
Beth Fouhy (AP)
Issue date: 12/11/06 Section: News
NEW YORK (AP) - Democrats selected Denver to host their 2008 presidential convention, turning down New York in favor of a problematic but enthusiastic bid from a city in the increasingly Democratic Rocky Mountain West.
"Given the West's winning history, it's fitting that the next president of the United States will be nominated in Denver in 2008 and will be introduced to the American people in the Rocky Mountains," party chairman Howard Dean told reporters on a conference call with Colorado officials.
Denver mounted a spirited effort to win the convention, organizing a sophisticated public relations campaign and enlisting help from Democratic lawmakers throughout the West. But the bid was fraught with logistical problems, among them a lack of close-in hotel rooms, its ability to raise the necessary $55 million to run the convention and serious labor concerns.
The city's bid was nearly scuttled last month when the influential stagehands union refused to agree not to strike if the convention was held at the nonunion Pepsi Center.
In the end, Dean enlisted the help of labor leaders in Washington, including AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union. A compromise was negotiated to staff the Pepsi Center entirely with union labor for the duration of the convention, effectively taking the last major obstacle off the table.
Dean acknowledged that there were some labor issues still to be worked out, and there was no evidence that hosting a political convention in a particular geographic region boosted a presidential candidate's chances of victory in that region.
Still, Dean said, the choice of Denver reflected his commitment to building the party nationally.
"It's important, in politics, to put your money where your mouth is," Dean said. I've said consistently we want to have a fifty-state strategy."
New York, for its part, had eagerly sought the convention for months, but its mayor, Michael Bloomberg, said in recent weeks he would not commit the city to underwrite the convention's costs.
"Given the West's winning history, it's fitting that the next president of the United States will be nominated in Denver in 2008 and will be introduced to the American people in the Rocky Mountains," party chairman Howard Dean told reporters on a conference call with Colorado officials.
Denver mounted a spirited effort to win the convention, organizing a sophisticated public relations campaign and enlisting help from Democratic lawmakers throughout the West. But the bid was fraught with logistical problems, among them a lack of close-in hotel rooms, its ability to raise the necessary $55 million to run the convention and serious labor concerns.
The city's bid was nearly scuttled last month when the influential stagehands union refused to agree not to strike if the convention was held at the nonunion Pepsi Center.
In the end, Dean enlisted the help of labor leaders in Washington, including AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union. A compromise was negotiated to staff the Pepsi Center entirely with union labor for the duration of the convention, effectively taking the last major obstacle off the table.
Dean acknowledged that there were some labor issues still to be worked out, and there was no evidence that hosting a political convention in a particular geographic region boosted a presidential candidate's chances of victory in that region.
Still, Dean said, the choice of Denver reflected his commitment to building the party nationally.
"It's important, in politics, to put your money where your mouth is," Dean said. I've said consistently we want to have a fifty-state strategy."
New York, for its part, had eagerly sought the convention for months, but its mayor, Michael Bloomberg, said in recent weeks he would not commit the city to underwrite the convention's costs.
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