DNC Announces Dates for 2008 Democratic Convention

[MaineDem]

For Immediate Release
November 4, 2005
Contact: Karen Finney/Josh Earnest, 202.863.8148

DNC Announces Dates for 2008 Democratic Convention
Late August Convention Will Maximize Momentum for Democratic Ticket

Washington, DC - DNC Chairman Howard Dean today announced that the 2008
Democratic National Convention will be held Monday, August 25th through
Thursday, August 28th. The late August convention date will allow the
Democrats to host their convention after the 2008 Summer Olympics in
Beijing.

"I'm pleased to announce that the 2008 Democratic National
Convention will be held in late August 2008," said DNC Chairman Howard
Dean. "I look forward to joining with Democrats from across the
country August 25-28th, as we gather to formally nominate our 2008
Presidential ticket."


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www.democrats.org. This communication is not authorized by any
candidate or candidate's committee.

[GrpCaptMandrake]

1. Has the location been announced?

How about Washington, D.C.? Has that been done? A nice, symbolic gesture for getting government re-fcussed on the things that matter.

[waiting for hope]

3. New Orleans may be up and running

in time for a convention - used to live there, great place to visit and it might highlight the Shrub's failures with Katrina.

[BlueManDude]

4. How about Denver, Orlando, Albuquerque, Charlotte

take it to swing states or red territory.

[waiting for hope]

5. Louisiana is Red....

but the Mayor of New Orleans turned Blue to win the Democratic base in New Orleans - after talking to family and friends that we have still down there, it's very possible that Louisiana as a state will be voting blue.

[BlueManDude]

6. sounds good to me

the decision to go to boston was a bad one - and yes i was saying that prior to that shitty convention.

i don't belive the dems have ever held a convention in no.

[...of J.Temperance]

12. Considering that

Half of the NOLA black population, that we ALWAYS had to put our people over the top in Statewide races, have NOW been scattered across 40 odd states...we have A LOT of work to do.

I'm VERY worried about the Repukes taking the state...I THINK we can head it off even MINUS NOLA, but I can't count my chickens before they hatch.

We've got to pad what WAS our HEAVY NOLA vote someplace else...such as Caddo and Calcasieu and Lafayette and West Baton Rouge Parishes respectively.

Oh and come February, Ray Reagan is OUT, stick a fork in him. Here's hoping for Mayor Eddie Sapir come February 2006...Sapir's a REAL Democrat, a LIFELONG Democrat. Ray Reagan = never trust the worm that appears to turn.

[AspenRose]

19. Albuquerque!

:bounce:

Then again, you'd have to put up with DLCer Bill Richardson on TV 24/7....

[GrpCaptMandrake]

8. I kinda like the idea of holding it in NOLA

Although I can already hear Phlush Phlegmball: "My friends, the Demoncrats (props: B. Boudelang) are only able to hold their tacky, exploitative convention in New Orleans because of the heroic rebuilding efforts of the Bush Administration and the Republican Congress! Remember how they howled about Halliburton getting the rebuilding contracts for the Big Easy? And now the DemocRat Party is holding its convention there because of Halliburton's tireless efforts! Why DO democrats hate America?"

Pardon me while I go get a drive-by exorcism. Channeling that filthy bastard just makes me feel all creepy and squirmy inside.

[waiting for hope]

10. Do a little sprinkle of holy water.....

and I may be wrong, but I think Halliburton got the boot out of New Orleans and all the clean up/restoration work is to be done by locals.

[Ignacio Upton]

18. Hold the convention in a swing state or Sunbelt state

Cleveland or Cincinatti would be good for Ohio. Tampa or Miami would be good for Florida. Pheonix, Charlotte, Atlanta, or Philadelphia would also be great.

[...of J.Temperance]

21. The clean-up isn't being done by locals

Baton Rouge is fighting like tooth and nail to get the locals involved. Bush Inc. and fucking FEMA are putting up roadblocks to the local workers every which way.

And I won't even go on about what's happening in Caddo over the trailers with FEMA and the Sheriff going apeshit all over the place about the land that FEMA want to put the trailers on.

Halliburton is still going to clear the oil stuff up.

[...of J.Temperance]

9. I'd second NOLA for our Convention

We'd be IDIOTS if we didn't have it in the Crescent City. And we'd be INSANE if we let the Repukes try and have their convention there.

NOLA doesn't WANT the Repukes...stay out and fuck off ya pigs.

[iconoclastNYC]

13. Ohio or Flordia

To highlight the fraud issue.

[Justitia]

14. How about Philly? Where our independence & Constitution were born!

Back to our Democratic roots!

Philly is reliably blue, and it could insure the left swing of the western half of the state (take that Santorum - hopefully he'll be gone by then).

[MaineDem]

24. No location yet

There's a need to find union hotels and, I believe, a need for a unionized convention center.

[mzmolly]

2. They should hold it later.

UGH. WE need the bounce out of the convention to carry through the nomination.

Oh well.

[Ignacio Upton]

16. Wanna bet another terror alert will be issued after the convention?

nt

[Justitia]

17. I agree. The later the better. -eom

[trogdor]

7. Hold it in Miami.

The scene of the crime.

[SaveElmer]

11. How about rewarding some loyal Blue state...MN comes to mind

The only state in the Union to resist the Reagan sweep in both 1980 and 1984. Hasn't gone for a Republican since 1972...and then just barely.

Minnesota is turning a bit toward the purple...would be nice to shore up the upper midwest a bit.

And...Minneapolis is a GREAT town!!!

Home of Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale, Eugene McCarthy, Orville Freeman, and Paul Wellstone!!!

[Ignacio Upton]

15. Good

Let's break the precedent of the out of power party holding their convention first. One of the reasons why Kerry was hurt by the Swift Boat Veterans was because Bush and the right-wingers had almost a month where Kery would be limited in using his public money while Bush could still use unlimited private money. This will give the Democrats more time to use privately raised funds because they accept the $70-80 million in Federal Matching Funds after the candidate is selected.

[GrpCaptMandrake]

20. Lots of great suggestions here

With lots of good reasons.

One or two more: how about holding it in a "blue collar" town, say Pittsburgh or Cleveland or maybe right under the "intelligent Designers" noses, Kansas City (yes, I know that's Missouri, but . . .)

Of course, in the end, we understand that the DLC knows best, and will choose accordingly. :sarcasm:

[kentuck]

22. Why do they always let Repubs hold their convention last ?

Is there an advantage to that?

[...of J.Temperance]

23. Is it that the party in the WH goes last with their convention?

I might be wrong, I'd have to check on 1996 and 2000, if we were last with our conventions or not.

[snowbear]

25. I think you're right J.T.

When I asked that question on here last summer.. that's the response that I got. The party in office always gets to select the later date..

[...of J.Temperance]

31. That's it then

I thought it was something like that, the party in power goes last.

I hope that in 2012, our party is choosing last.

[MaineDem]

26. FAQs from the DNC Re the dates and location

Why has Governor Dean chosen to hold the 2008 Democratic Convention from August 25-28th?

Governor Dean selected the last week in August because it will afford the Democratic presidential tickets several strategic advantages:

The convention will occur following the Olympics, at a time when the public is most interested and ready to focus on the general election. American families have completed their summer vacations and most children have returned to school, and Democratic candidates will be able to make their case to an attentive public.

The so-called “post-convention bounce” traditionally enjoyed by candidates after the intense media coverage of the campaign will occur just 68 days before Election Day giving our candidates the opportunity to hit the ground running.

The “federal general election grant” for the general election period will only have to fund the campaign for 68 days. (In 2004, federal matching funds for the Kerry-Edwards campaign had to be spread over three months, preventing the campaign from launching an aggressive paid media campaign immediately after the convention – even as the campaign’s primary election bank account contained a surplus.)

Who did Gov. Dean consult before choosing the dates for the 2008 Democratic convention?

In deciding which dates to hold the 2008 convention, Governor Dean consulted with Democratic party leaders, recent Democratic presidential nominees and members of their staffs who were instrumental in putting together the convention and executing their post-convention campaign strategy.

Do the dates the Gov. Dean has chosen for the convention depart from recent political tradition about the timing of the major party conventions (that the party in the White House holds their convention last)?

No. By holding the Democratic convention in late August, the Republicans can follow the precedent they established last year and hold their convention in early September if they choose.

When will the host city for the 2008 Democratic National Convention be selected?

The host city for the 2008 Democratic National Convention will be announced sometime after the 2006 Mid-Term Elections.

Who will select the host city for the 2008 Democratic National Convention?

As in the past, cities interested in hosting the Democratic convention in 2008 will submit bids to the DNC and those bids will be evaluated on the basis of a clear set of criteria. Governor Dean will ultimately choose the city that will host the Democratic convention.

[Daylin Byak]

27. Here's a idea...

Come to pittsburgh howard, come and have the DNC convention in a city that is basically dripping the color blue in a city where the dems outnumber republicans 5 to 1

were not the biggest city like boston but hey it's a good location.

[snowbear]

28. Political hacks say New Orleans w/be chosen by BOTH parties..

That's what the early hunches are in a lot of newspapers..

[...of J.Temperance]

29. The Repukes will NOT be allowed to...and I'll tell you why

Because by then I'll have assembled a posse, and we'll have our plot down to the fine detail. That's the mission.

And it'll have been planned well in advance, probably at Broussard's, over Shrimp Remoulade, followed by Salmon Jean Lafitte, followed by Profiteroles au Chocolate Marion and all washed down with bottles of Merlot...possibly a Duckhorn Merlot.

This will happen, the Crescent City will be back. And Broussard's will live and I'll go and recruit a big posse and then we'll save the Crescent City from the Repuke scavengers.

[FightinNewDem]

30. Politics AND Logistics

The choice of a convention site is ultimately political, but remember, logistics are a consideration as well.

A city hosting the convention must have a very large supply of hotel rooms. The 1988 Atlanta convention was a fiasco because several delegations were housed twenty-five miles from the convention hall. This requirement probably nixes Pittsburgh, Minneapolis, and possibly St. Louis and Charlotte.

The host city also needs a very large convention hall. The FleetCenter (now Banknorth Garden) in Boston was barely large enough, and it holds about 18,000 for a Celtics or Bruins game. Same thing with Madison Square Garden. This would give an advantage to a city with a dome, such as New Orleans or San Antonio.

In addition, there need to be off-site convention hall space to accomodate media facilities, security situation rooms, and adjunct events run by groups like the DLC, Campaign for America's Future, PDA, etc. Those of you who were in Boston last year will remember how the hotels in Copley Square and the Hynes Convention Center were filled with all manner of side shows.

Finally, the city should be relatively compact. A complaint I heard about the 2000 convo in Los Angeles (which is the only one since '92 I have missed) was that LA is just too damn spread out and difficult to navigate. Boston, NYC, and Chicago all had real downtowns and excellent public transit systems. This is an area where NOLA and San Antonio have some advantages.

My early hunch is that the choice is going to come down to New Orleans, San Antonio and Denver, which had very good bids for both 2000 and 2004. Cleveland is a wild card, as well.