13 September 2006

"Disastrous" Denver off short list for '08 Democratic Convention

Hotline On Call scuttlebutts aplenty about New York City being the favorite to land the 2008 Democratic National Convention.  What happened to the Mile High City, which along with Minneapolis-Saint Paul made up the other two locales in the final running?

On Call’s Marc Ambinder writes:

The site selection committee had high hopes for Denver, located in a blinking-blue Mountain West state with a growing Hispanic population. But one Democrat briefed on the city's presentation and bid called it "disastrous." Others confirmed that the general impression among site selection members of Denver was not positive. The city also lacks a union hotel, and even though the city’s labor leaders voted to table its outrage, it remains an obstacle.

Disastrous?  Not positive?  What the hell, this is a wonderful, beautiful, diverse place!  It’s not a cowtown anymore and we haven’t had an inane fan riot in years.  I hope they didn’t serve Coors at the presentation, or have Dealin’ Doug deliver the pitch.

Sad news for the city if the chatter turns out to be correct.  Sigh… Denver had mile high hopes, too.

UPDATE 14 SEP 2006: The Denver Post’s Haley’s Comment covered the story, as did Daniel J. Chacon at RockyMountainNews.com.  Chacon talked to Denver Host Committee’s exec director Debbie Willhite, who said, “It does not reflect well on our bid, and it does not reflect well on our city.”  She later described Ambinder’s report as “unfortunate,” adding, “We’d love [National Journal] to retract it, but the fact of the matter is that someone at the [Democratic National Committee] with some sort of title gave the reporter this luscious little quote.  Obviously, it was somebody who doesn’t want to come to Denver.”  The DNC declined to comment.

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