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May 09, 2005
A Democratic Convention (kinda) in Denver?
An interesting idea has been floating around the blogs this weekend: holding a mid-term National Convention, possibly in Denver. In a letter on one of the leading national blogs, AlterNet, Tom Cosgrove proposes this idea to kick-start the Party.
While there are lots of problems (one of the biggest problems with Party events in Colorado has always been the dearth of unionized hotels), the idea is catching some steam. The DNC by-laws provide that we can hold national conventions in years where we don't nominate a President, and it might not be a bad idea in general to hold a mid-term convention to get our ideas and focus out there among the populace. It would also fire up the base, too.
Any thoughts?
Posted by dslater at May 9, 2005 10:39 AM
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Comments
I would be a little concerned about the cost to the party vs. the benefits of such a convention. Also, most day-to-day folks don't really even know the convention does anything else besides nonimate the Presidential candidates. It may prove difficult to get the kind of involvement you want. If the goal is to recharge the party between persidential elections, I think it might backfire if very few people show up for a midterm convention.
Posted by: Dan Willis at May 9, 2005 11:09 PM
The possibility of a national convention at this point has several advantages. The most important is that with a republican president, it is hard to have anything positive said about Democrats. With the Republicans having to nominate a presidential candidate, having a mid-session national convention would give the Democrats a head start on the campaign, which would also help the local campaigns, such as our up and coming govenor race.
Posted by: Joseph Rothkopf at May 11, 2005 04:30 PM
Gee, let me think: Headlines about a mid-term Democratic Convention in newspapers across the Rocky Mt West for a couple of weeks....having Howard Dean, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, etc etc come to Colorado for the convention.... opportunities to talk about western issues and even Colorado issues to hundreds of Democratic leaders and the national media...what in the hell are we debating about this?!
Get on the phone and tell the DNC the Colorado Dems are ready to set it up! Fall colors peak about the third week in September---sounds like a good time to me.
And why do it at a hotel? Let's rent an empty building space and bring in all the unions we want to set things up. Isn't there a few empty hangers at the old airport or something? Or how about even the Pueblo Fairgrounds?
When do we get a committee started?
Posted by: Leslie Robinson at May 12, 2005 03:17 PM
Is Denver going to try for the 2008 Democratic National Convention? A mid-term convention would be fine, but why not go for the big show? Denver will be perfect for the next election:
1) The geographic center of the country
2) Denver is at the heart of all the "red" states
3) Our resurgence in Democratic elected officials
4) The new Convention Center expansion
5) Mayor Hickenlooper
6) Senator Salazar
7) Colorado could easily swing to a "Blue" state
8) And the list goes on....
When does the process for the selection of the convention host city begin?
Posted by: Sam S at July 8, 2005 12:31 AM