DNC visits Denver again - update

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Members of the Democratic National Comittee's Technical Advisory Group revisited Denver today to take a second look:

"I think it's very good that they are coming back out," said Debbie Willhite, executive director of Denver's host committee.
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It will also be a chance for Denver's host committee to showcase some new staff. Willhite, a longtime event organizer with national Democratic connections, was recently hired as executive director. "I've been on site selection in the past," Willhite said. "Once you get down to the real cities that are in contention, you want to check things out as thoroughly as you can."

And from the Rocky Mountain News:

The small group, which arrived Wednesday, will revisit the Pepsi Center and meet with Denver boosters trying to trump New York and Minneapolis-St. Paul for the Democratic National Convention.

"It's like getting a second date," said Debbie Willhite, who has helped the DNC select a convention site in the past and is now executive director of the Denver 2008 Host Committee.

"When you're starting to get down to just a couple of sites and you're going to be making recommendations to the decision-makers, you want to be as precise about what the differences are," she said. "I think it is a very, very good sign that they're coming back out, and we're very excited to have them here."

Willhite added that she's heard that Denver, which hosted its only national political convention in 1908, is among the top two cities being eyed for the convention. "I'm fairly certain from what I hear on the proverbial grapevine that (the other city is) Minneapolis-St. Paul," she said.

I think it's clear that New York is running a distant third at this point. Dean is 50-state kind of guy, and New York just brings nothing politically to the image the Democrats want in 2008. And the facilities aren't so great. Madison Square Garden is getting old, and there's no good adjacent workspace for the media. Unless New York overwhelms the DNC with money, its hard to see how New York gets the bid over Denver or St. Paul.

There will also be followup visits in the other cities.

Update: The Denver Post has a followup:

Denver has told national Democrats they can count on close to 19,000 hotel rooms if they choose the city for the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau president and chief executive Richard Scharf confirmed Thursday that local hotels have committed more hotel rooms than the 17,000 the Democrats are looking for.

"I think that is going to be a far superior offer than what any other city is going to be able to offer," Scharf said.

I think New York might debate that statement, but if you have enough hotel rooms, it doesn't matter how many more you have.

He added, "I can tell you right now if the Democratic convention does not come to Denver in 2008, it will not be because of the hotel rooms." While local officials have always expressed confidence in the area's ability to deliver the needed hotels, the commitments do a great deal to end skepticism in the metro area's capacity.

The confirmation comes as Democrats on the convention selection committee were in town for a second visit to Denver. Denver's host committee president and City Councilwoman Elbra Wedgeworth said "this was a more casual trip" than the last visit in June. "They spent most of their time at the Pepsi Center today," she said.

And from DemNotes:

This second site visit was not by all of the ten-member DNC Technical Committee; instead, only four of the members of the committee came out. They asked that we keep this visit much more low-key than the last one, and instead wanted to spend much more time going over the details of the bid with a fine-toothed comb. With that in mind, their only full day here, Thursday, was dominated by meetings with the key folks from the Host Committee on a wide variety of issues. Most of the meetings were either in the new downtown Hyatt, or at the Pepsi Center.
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The attendees were treated to a talk by author / historian and professor Patty Limerick, who gave a great presentation on how the history of the West and of Colorado helps make the case for Denver in 2008.
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And she wasn’t afraid to take a few shots at the humidity of the other remaining contenders: “Wilted people do not display spirit and hope.”
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Limerick’s talk concluded with a note that “America the Beautiful” was written because of Colorado. The lyrics, she said, are the lyrics of a Democratic Convention in Denver.
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Since I was unable to attend the first site visit, this was my first chance to really sit down and chat with some of the Technical Committee members. I came away impressed by their commitment to this job, and the detail to which they are paying attention to our bids. I also came away a little disturbed to hear that at least a couple of them monitor DemNotes to see what is going on with the bid. Oh, well; there’s no accounting for taste.

Gee, and I thought they monitored 2008 Democratic Convention Watch! Well, better to monitor a blog by someone who actually knows whats going on.....

Our next step in the Convention process is the full DNC meeting next week in Chicago. ... the week will be filled with receptions, dinners, and parties by each of the three cities who are bidding for the convention. New York will kick it off with a reception on Thursday night; Minneapolis - St. Paul will hold their reception (along with other receptions hosted by other DNC groups) on Friday night; and Denver will cap it off with a breakfast for DNC Members on Saturday morning, just prior to the actual DNC meeting.