A decision could come later this week on whether Democrats host their 2008 national convention in Denver or New York, according to the Albuquerque Journal.
As a presidential hopeful who would love to formally secure his party’s nomination just 400 miles from his hometown of Santa Fe, this is something for which Gov. Bill Richardson is lobbying hard. Richardson, according to the newspaper, has helped secure money for the event and also the support of Harry Reid of Nevada, who will be the Senate majority leader when Congress starts up again in January.
Mike Stratton of Denver, a political consultant who many believe is preparing Richardson to run for president, sits on the committee that is working to bring the event to Denver from Aug. 25-28, 2008.
“Clearly, the governor supports Denver. It’s his first choice,” the governor’s re-election campaign manager, Amanda Cooper, told the Journal. “It really is a chance to (highlight) that the West is a place important to the Democrats.”
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean will decide before the end of the month, and possibly this week, where the convention will be held, the Journal reported. At an event last month in Washington, D.C., Dean joked that Richardson was twisting his arm, according to the Denver Post.
“Did you see I only had one arm?” Dean asked, according to the Post.
The nominee is often decided before the convention by the results of state primaries and caucuses, but if it’s still up in the air at the time of the convention, Stratton said Richardson would have a “decided advantage.”
And I reported yesterday that Richardson will have to answer some tough questions in New Hampshire this weekend because of his perceived support of moving Nevada’s caucuses ahead of the New Hampshire primary. That perception exists mainly because Stratton supported doing that.
Stratton told the Journal that Richardson and Reid worked together to make that happen.
A decision could come later this week on whether Democrats host their 2008 national convention in