| The DNC has announced St Louis, Minneapolis, Charlotte and Cleveland as the finalists to host the 2012 Democratic National Convention: St. Louis, Mo.— The Democratic National Committee (DNC) today announced via a blog posting that St. Louis is one of four finalists bidding to host the 2012 Democratic National Convention. The city last hosted a national convention in 1916, re-nominating President Woodrow Wilson. St. Louis submitted its bid on 21 May, along with several other cities. St. Louis is a strong contender for the Convention, given the region’s central location and unique attributes as a family-friendly and diverse city capable of hosting the 50,000 delegates, press and other visitors in 2012. If successful, St. Louis will enjoy a significant economic benefit from the Convention. In 2008, the Convention boosted Denver's regional economy by $266 million. For comparison, the 2009 MLB All-Star Game boosted the St. Louis economy by some $60 million. The DNC’s Technical Advisory Group (TAG) will conduct site visits to each finalist city this summer. “I’m proud St. Louis got short-listed,” said St. Louis Mayor Francis G. Slay. “We demonstrated we are a first-class city capable of holding an event of this magnitude.”
Since Cleveland apparently won't have a functioning convention center (see below) in 2012 the race is between St Louis, Minneapolis and Charlotte. And Phoenix's potential bid died with a whimper. St. Louis Mayor Slay: Getting the convention has long odds and will involve national political considerations.
Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx: “The 2012 Democratic National Convention carries a significant and positive economic impact and will also put our city, our region and our state on an international stage,” Foxx says. “Working with a dedicated, bipartisan team of public and private partners, Charlotte is well positioned to land this convention.”
Minneapolis Mayor RT Rybak We are in the finals for the 2012 Democratic convention, which could bring some significant money to the state: http://tinyurl.com/2adlcnr
Here's the email from Kaine: Dear DNC member:
I'm excited to announce that four cities have been selected as finalists to host the 2012 Democratic National Convention: Charlotte, North Carolina; Cleveland, Ohio; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and St. Louis, Missouri.
Many cities were eager for the opportunity to host the convention during the week of September 3, 2012. We're grateful to every city we have worked with throughout this process.
Throughout this summer, our team will visit these four cities to determine which is the best locale to host our 46th National Convention.
We look forward to our continued work to ensure that the Democratic National Convention of 2012 is the best that it can be. We’ll keep you updated throughout the process.
Sincerely,
Governor Tim Kaine
Chairman
Note: We're checking back with our source who told us Cleveland wasn't bidding. While it's true the main convention would not be in the Cleveland Convention Center, a large convention facility nearby is required to support media workspace and other needs. If Cleveland's Convention Center is not available, that would hurt Cleveland's bid. Thursday Update: Our source on Cleveland not bidding was clearly wrong, and we've been unable to get clarification on the information we previously got. In any event, DCW was wrong, and we regret the error. |
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